Blessed are the peacemakers, especially when they intervene during a car park fracas that might be injurious to the dignity of all involved. Last week, that award went to golfer Shane Lowry, whose calming presence during a heated exchange at the Ryder Cup demonstrated an enviable sang-froid; for Lowry it was who stepped in as the red mist descended on Rory McIlroy as he berated Jim “Bones” Mackay following an earlier incident with another opponent’s caddie. Lowry drew on the Offaly equivalent of “Leave it, Rory, he’s not worth it”, and bundled McIlroy into a car, thereby ensuring the spotlight remained on Europe’s decisive win over America in Rome. To the joy of the home team, no reverse “Miracle at Medinah” materialised.
McIlroy had previously had a dust-up with US player Patrick Cantlay’s caddie, Joe LaCava, on the course’s final holes. McIlroy accused LaCava of unsportsmanlike behaviour for cheering a Cantlay putt while McIlroy was mustering concentration for his turn. He also claimed LaCava obstructed his line of vision. McIlroy is a notably emotional golfer who has struggled with his form in majors; his opposition to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league has proved painful to him, morally and financially, and so bad manners on the course doubtless have an extra resonance. To counter the distress all these problems cause, he calls upon authorities higher even than Lowry.
McIlroy revealed that he’d been channelling, when in Rome, the wisdom of emperor Marcus Aurelius, in keeping with his more general interest in Stoicism. It transpires that he is not alone, as fans of the American website Daily Stoic will attest. There, you may buy not only a leather-bound edition of Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations for a mere $110, but also skull-decorated Memento Mori medallions and pendants representing the four virtues (courage, temperance, justice and wisdom, yours for $245). Also available are a host of books by marketing specialist and podcaster Ryan Holiday with titles such as Ego Is the Enemy and The Obstacle Is the Way (not so much, perhaps, if the obstacle is a caddie).
One sees the attraction. Stoicism is a philosophy both sound and comforting; develop your powers of fortitude and acceptance, it counsels, in the face of misfortune and against the backdrop of inevitable death. The world may be unfair and unpredictable, but you can be courageous and persevere. In its contemporary incarnation, it takes its place alongside other models for living – Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, for example, or Machiavelli’s The Prince – as appearing to offer historically tested remedies for timeless predicaments. Approaches such as these appear almost entirely male-coded; women are more likely to be ushered towards injunctions to declutter their surroundings and eat, pray, love until they feel better.
As the child of a divided country who knew that even his choice of a national team would be controversial, McIlroy has good reasons to search for external sources of support; when the PGA Tour cut a deal with LIV in June, after his staunch refusal to participate, he described feeling like “a sacrificial lamb”. A few weeks earlier, he had missed the cut at the US Masters. Nobody would begrudge him an infusion of Epicetus and Seneca to get him to the 19th. Failing that, there’s always Lowry waiting in the wings.
• Alex Clark is an Observer columnist
