“I think we’re both highly competitive” – Patrick Cantlay says Rory McIlroy ‘d***’ remark was taken out of context 

Rory McIlroy recently took a jibe at Patrick Cantlay and called him a ‘d***.’ However, Cantlay has now played down the remark.

The incident occurred when McIlroy was speaking about his heated argument with Cantlay's caddie, Joe LaCava, at the Ryder Cup in Rome. While sharing details of the incident, the Northen Irishman referred to Cantlay with an uncharitable word.

McIlroy also said in an earlier interview that his relationship with Cantlay was “average at best.”

Interestingly, Cantlay has now come out in defence of the 'd***' comment and said that his PGA Tour co-star’s remark was “taken out of context.” The 31-year-old golfer stated that both he and McIlroy were “highly competitive” and that they “admire that part of each other.” He further criticized the media for apparently turning the story.

Patrick Cantlay said, as quoted by Irish Independent:

“Yeah, I saw that (d*** comment). I think it was taken out of context. And that’s kind of the world we live in, where the headline drives the story.”

Cantlay further said he talked to McIlroy post-Ryder Cup and that “everything was cordial.”

“I think we’re both highly competitive and we’re both trying to be the absolute best," he said. "I think we both admire that part of each other. As far as the Policy Board goes, we’ve worked really closely together and had a really good working relationship over my year on the board… Look, I talked to him post-Ryder Cup and, y’know, everything was cordial and all good."

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Looking back at the circumstances in which Rory McIlroy called Patrick Cantlay a ‘d***’

Cantlay teamed up with Wyndham Clark and took on McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick in a four-ball match on the second day of the 2023 Ryder Cup. During the match, Cantlay's caddie LaCava celebrated his side's nearing victory by waving his cap. McIlroy, who was yet to play a few shots, got into an argument over that.

According to McIlroy, Brooks Koepka's caddie and swing coach Ricky Elliot and Claude Harmon approached him to resolve the argument. However, the frustrated golfer couldn’t control his anger and shouted out more comments.

Later, the Irishman said that LaCava was a "nice guy" when working with Tiger Woods but had changed since joining Cantlay. Speaking about Cantlay's caddie in an interview with the Irish Independent, Rory McIlroy said:

" Joe LaCava used to be a nice guy when he was caddying for Tiger, and now he’s caddying for that d*** he’s turned into a … I still wasn’t in a great headspace.”

McIlroy claimed that he cleared the air with the caddie at the event itself, and that the duo shook hands.

"I shook Joe’s [LaCava] hand, and Patrick’s [Cantlay] hand," he said. "Those three putts he made on 16, 17 and 18 were fantastic, and under that pressure, to give your team a glimmer of hope going into Sunday was big balls. So, all respect to him."

However, Cantlay had refrained from commenting on the issue at the time.