Are Rory McIlroy & Joe LaCava Back on Good Terms After Their Heated Ryder Cup Clash?

Lights, cameras, and flashbacks. It seems that the final round at Pinehurst will give viewers a lot of deja vu. After all, the Father’s Day Sunday final round of the 124th US Open will feature old foes Patrick Cantlay and Rory McIlroy teeing up for the first time after their Ryder Cup feud, which primarily involved Cantlay’s caddie, Joe LaCava.

LaCava will be present on-course this time around as well and could potentially reignite some not-so-rusty 2023 RyderCup memories for McIlroy, but it did not. On the first tee on the final round of the 124th US Open, when the Northern Irishman and veteran caddie came face-to-face, they shook hands, and the former even winked at him. McIlroy said to LaCava, “Let’s have a good day.”

The duo sorted out their differences last year, thanks to the involvement of Tiger Woods to clear the air between his former caddie and good friend at the time. However, Woods’s intervention defused the situation. McIlroy detailed Woods’s role and said, “There was also three texts and two missed calls from Tiger because they’re obviously still close. I sent him a quick message: ‘It will be fine — long day — just want to go to bed.'”

Turning the pages of history back, the tipping point of the altercation between McIlroy and LaCava was the former’s not-so-smooth relationship with LaCava’s employer, Patrick Cantlay. This was further exacerbated when the duo was coming against one another in the nationalistic air of the Ryder Cup Foursomes, and LaCava waved his cap in the air for a little too long. While celebrating, LaCava hundred McIlroy’s putting line, who at the time was still struggling to sink a birdie of his own.

An angry McIlroy then said, “So we’re going left and someone is shouting at me, ‘Rory! Rory!’, and I look back and it’s Ricky Elliott and Claude Harmon. And they’re trying to defuse the situation but I start having a go at them. ‘Joe LaCava used to be a nice guy when he was caddying for Tiger, and now he’s caddying for that d*ck he’s turned into a …’ I still wasn’t in a great headspace.”

While it does seem that the past has been subsided by the two, at least overtly, considering this would be their first professional faceoff since a spicy rendezvous, things could get interesting. Talking about the odds of winning six times together in their careers in stroke-play events, who has a better chance of winning the 124th U.S. Open?

McIlroy vs. Cantlay: Who has better odds of winning the U.S. Open, as per history?

The two golfers remain tied for the second position with an equal score of 4-under-par after the end of Round 3 of the U.S. Open. While on the same footing currently at Pinehurst No. 2, history seems to side with Cantlay when it comes to their faceoffs.

Be it the 2023 Ryder Cup or the FedEx St. Jude Championship that preceded it, Cantlay’s destiny has shined brighter than the famous pro who almost always wins. Since 2020, Cantlay has an average scoring of 68.75 to McIlroy’s 69.13 in their stroke-play rounds paired together.

However, McIlroy may channel the pent-up Ryder Cup rage in the direction of a victory this U.S. Open season. Only time will tell.