Former Team USA Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger has blasted Patrick Cantlay's caddie Joe LaCava after he got tangled up in a row with Rory McIlroy on the 18th green on Saturday.
Azinger, the winning captain in 2008, said LaCava's actions were "dreadful" as he celebrated in front of McIlroy after Cantlay made a clutch putt to give the Americans a glimmer of hope at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome.
McIlroy and fourballs teammate Matt Fitzpatrick still had putts left to halve the hole, but LaCava stood near McIlroy waving his hat in the air in celebration. When confronted by the Northern Irishman, Tiger Woods' former bagman appeared to snap back.
Tensions were high late on Saturday after reports from Sky Sports claimed there was a rift in the American camp led by Cantlay's frustrations that players are not paid for Ryder Cup appearances, refusing to wear a team hat in protest. The American team has denied claims of "fractures" in the team room, and Zach Johnson's players celebrated in solidarity as Cantlay clinched a crucial point on the last hole of the day, waving their hats in the air.
After their exchange on the 18th green, the argument between McIlroy and LaCava continued in the car park later in the evening, with the four-time major champion caught on camera gesturing angrily in the caddie's direction.
Azinger was not impressed by LaCava's actions on the green, although he believes McIlroy reacted differently because it happened in the Ryder Cup rather than an individual event. He told Sky Sports: "Rory McIlroy is the happy-go-lucky guy, I respect him so much, but he wasn't happy-go-lucky because it's the Ryder Cup and the intensity is so magnified and it's real.
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"The Europeans have almost deified Seve (Ballesteros), who was one of the most emotional and contentious players in Ryder Cup history. That's just part of what inspires Europe.
Somehow, the Americans are afraid to have these inspirational videos and all that because it makes us more nervous. It doesn't make you guys nervous.
