The sun had only just set when the most dramatic minutes of this Ryder Cup so far began in Rome. Both teams, their families, tens of thousands of spectators, in short: almost every person who was still on the course had gathered on the 18th green of the Marco Simone Golf Club in anticipation of the Saturday finale. It was supposed to be loud – and all too atypical.
Golf is many things, but it is not a contact sport, but at the end of a long day several people suddenly found themselves so close to each other on this green that contact suddenly no longer seemed to be out of the question. No contact of friendly nature, mind you, the situation was too serious for that, even if it sounds rather strange at first glance: Opposite stood Rory McIlroy, Europe’s leader, and his opponent Patrick Cantlay’s caddy, Joe LaCava, who was wearing his cap in his hand, dancing and provoking as McIlroy prepared for his putt.
So far, so unspectacular. It takes a look at the entire Saturday, which began shortly after sunrise with the first tee-off, to understand the situation. Another strong performance by the European team dominated the morning; they extended their lead from the previous day – to seven points – and thus plunged the USA deeper into the crisis at lunchtime.
“Patrick Cantlay, where’s your hat?” Such chants could be heard on every hole
Meanwhile, an appropriate report from a British journalist was making the rounds on Twitter: The USA had fallen out as a team, according to the report, because the player Cantlay had started an internal debate about the fact that players should receive prize money at the Ryder Cup. It is now well known about the 31-year-old that he actively supports the theory that golfers should urgently earn even more money than they already do. However, the report about the split team was not confirmed among US journalists. Cantlay himself and US captain Zach Johnson also firmly rejected him, the latter saying it was “borderline irresponsible” to spread something like that.
Ultimately, questions of credibility remained at Sky UK rather than a groundbreaking controversial story. Among other things, because it was also claimed that Cantlay had thought of a creative form of protest: He didn’t want to wear a cap as long as he didn’t earn any money at the Ryder Cup. He later rejected this as a false statement. However, his explanation was also a bit questionable: the cap just didn’t fit him particularly well, said Cantlay.
True or false: The news of the fake scandal, now dubbed “Hatgate”, reached the audience in Rome in the afternoon, while the players were swarming out for the fourth round, and they felt directly inspired. “Patrick Cantlay, where’s your hat?” and “Hats off to your bank account,” they sang on every hole he played, while the spectators waved their own hats. Cantlay answered them directly, laughing and waving to the crowd. And then he answered on the course: In the final match of the day, he almost single-handedly brought the USA back into the tournament, with fantastic shots on the last three holes – including on the scene on hole 18, after sunset.
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There Cantlay sank a putt from 13 meters away, whereupon the entire US team present took off their caps and waved their hands at the crowd in view of the deficit that had now shrunk to five points. It was a unique setting, but one in which the experienced caddy LaCava did not recognize the borderline to the unsportsmanlike: with his prolonged celebration, he noticeably influenced McIlroy’s concentration, even his playing partner Matthew Fitzpatrick would have still had a chance to win the match to balance again. But both failed, which is why two things happened in the end.
In 96 years of the Ryder Cup, there has never been such a comeback
On the one hand, shortly before the end, the Americans worked out a starting position in which a victory was at least possible. The Europeans need four points from twelve individual games on Sunday, the USA eight and a half. In 96 years of the Ryder Cup there has never been such a comeback, not even in 2012, at the Miracle of Medinah, when the Europeans turned around 6:10 on Sunday, but were “only” four points behind. The sporting and emotional parallel lies in the fact that the race to catch up began on Saturday afternoon: In 2012, the Englishman Ian Poulter scored another point late on Saturday, with a similarly sensational series on the final holes as Cantlay this time – and thus created the necessary mood of optimism .
On the other hand, there are still more questionable and very emotional images from Saturday. A video later showed McIlroy Shortly before leaving for the hotel, he shouted, gesticulating wildly in the direction of an invisible person and was barely held back by his teammate Shane Lowry. Such events are unusual in the often tranquil sport of golf, whose core characteristic is mutual respect on the course. There, where a final round with special circumstances awaits on Sunday from 11 a.m.
