Scottie Scheffler’s caddie Ted Scott has apologized to Team Europe vice-captain Francesco Molinari after tensions spilled over during match two of the Ryder Cup Saturday afternoon four-ball session.
The incident involving the pair occurred after a moment on the 15th green, where Justin Rose asked Bryson DeChambeau’s caddie Gregory Bodine to move away from his line.
That led to DeChambeau and Scott getting involved in a heated discussion with Rose as they walked to the 16th tee.
Before long, Scott was seen arguing with Molinari, who appeared to have tried to place himself between the European contingent and the Americans to defuse the situation.
When the group reached the 16th tee, it was Tommy Fleetwood’s caddie Ian Finnis who acted as peacemaker, with cooler heads prevailing before the European pairing closed out a 3&2 win.
The incident came during a hostile session that also saw the pairing of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, in particular, subjected to abuse throughout, resulting in security being increased amid the fan disorder.
Following the day’s play, the general consensus was that a line had been well and truly crossed, with boisterous support frequently turning into personal abuse that detracted from what had been an otherwise absorbing session with the highest quality golf on display.
With hopes that the Sunday singles play out in a less vitriolic atmosphere, Scott and Molinari have done their bit by burying the hatchet ahead of the final session.
Scott has released a video on his Instagram account apologizing to Molinari for his actions.
In the video, with his arm placed around Molinari’s shoulder, he begins: “This guy right here has always been just a very sweet-spirited man. We had a heated moment yesterday, but what many of you don’t realize is that we got over it by the time we walked off the 16th tee.
"Neither one of us want to make this competition about us. We want to let the players go out there and do their thing."
He added: “Ultimately, I just want to spread love and joy. It’s a great competition, it’s great fun and this is a great man right here, so I just want to say I’m sorry.”
After the pair shake hands, Molinari adds: “I appreciate you. I have huge admiration for you and I love you.”
After the day's play, US captain Keegan Bradley addressed the incident that started on the 15th green, saying: "I've spoken to everybody involved. I mean, I think it was a little bit disrespectful, but Justin Rose told me after on the green that they had talked it out.
"I talked to Bryson. In sports, golf, it's blown into this huge thing. It happens in sports all the time.
"They seemed fine after the round. You know, it's super passionate out there, especially for - well, for both sides.
"But from what I understand, everything was fine after the round. These sort of things happen when you're playing for your country."
Following the four-balls, the Europeans had increased their lead to 11.5-4.5 having won the session 3-1, becoming the first away team in Ryder Cup history to win the first four sessions.
Among the beleaguered US players were the two defeated by Rose and Fleetwood in match two, with Scheffler having lost all four of his matches and DeChambeau only claiming one point from his four.
On Saturday evening, the Europeans' dominance meant they only needed 2.5 points to retain the trophy they won at Marco Simone two years ago, with an outright win guaranteed with just three more points.
However, the team edged a little closer to its targets before a shot had even been hit on Sunday.
That's because Viktor Hovland withdrew from the final session with the neck injury that kept him out of the Saturday afternoon four-balls.
As a result, for just the third time in history, the little-known envelope rule was used.
Each captain had to place a player's name in an envelope in the event of a withdrawal, so that player could be paired with the player who pulled out.
US captain Keegan Bradley chose Harris English, meaning he was paired with Hovland and will play no part in the singles session.
The match is halved, meaning each team began the final session with another 0.5 points.
