World No 2 calmed himself down with some philosophy after his Saturday night spat and then won his singles
Rory McIlroy went to bed on Saturday night in one hell of a strop. He’d lost his fourball match that afternoon, but that wasn’t the real issue. The Americans had celebrated by exuberantly waving their caps in solidarity with Patrick Cantlay, but that wasn’t the problem either. What had really enraged him was the antics of Cantlay’s caddy Joe LaCava, getting in McIlroy’s face and whipping up the crowd just as he was about to line up a match-saving putt. McIlroy left that 18th green angrier than he had ever been on a golf course and he was still in a blind rage when he returned to his chauffeured transport a little while later.
From some dark and inscrutable place, he had been possessed with the idea of storming into the American locker room and telling them exactly what he thought of them. Spotting Justin Thomas’s caddy in the park, he unleashed a tirade, advancing on him before being dragged back by Shane Lowry. The footage was on social media within minutes. And so when McIlroy arose on Sunday morning he decided – as you do – to spend a few moments with the choice wisdom of the Roman philosopher Marcus Aurelius. “I needed to calm myself down,” he said later. “Because I could have let it bring me down the wrong path, but I didn’t.”
