LaCava will wait for Woods’ return to PGA Tour
Connecticut native has been Tiger’s caddie since 2011
Joe LaCava had seen enough golf shots from his boss over the course of a decade to expect the unexpected.
But since his boss had not played an official round of golf on the PGA Tour for over a calendar year, LaCava was just happy to be caddying again for Tiger Woods in a tournament. Even if it was just for 36 holes on a weekend in a team competition.
But what LaCava, a Newtown native and Southbury resident, saw from Woods at the PNC Championship held Dec. 18-19 in Orlando, Florida, even surprised the longtime Hall-of-Fame caddie.
“I was pleasantly surprised how much (clubhead) speed he had, how good his short game was,” said LaCava, a member of this year’s Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame Class. “The short game is something you have to attend to regularly to have touch and feel around the greens. Some drives, he carried it over 300 yards. I didn’t think I would see that again. He carried his 7-iron 180 yards and his 4-iron 220 yards. I wasn’t expecting to see those shots when I went down there to be honest with you.”
Tiger Woods teamed with his son Charlie to finish in second place. The duo made 11 consecutive birdies in the final round on Dec. 19.
That was the first time Woods had played in a golf tournament of any kind since his one-car accident on Feb. 23 in Los Angeles. He suffered comminuted open fractures to both the lower and upper portions of his fibula and tibia, in addition to some trauma to the soft tissue and muscle of his right leg.
People wondered if he would ever be able to walk normally again, let alone play golf.
Woods said in early December that if and when he does return to the PGA Tour, it will be a much more condensed playing schedule than in the past.
LaCava is often asked when Woods will come back. He can only speculate like everyone else.
“If I did know, I probably wouldn't tell anyone,” LaCava said. “I don’t know because he doesn’t know.
He is a very long way from playing in a tournament. That’s four rounds, you have a practice round or a pro-am, and he will not go there and half-ass it.”
Woods, 46, walked around at the PNC with a noticeable limp and used a cart. PGA Tour regulations stipulate players must walk, not ride.
“So it’s probably a 5hour round, up and down, funky stances on his feet (the entire time) and an hour after for (media). So that’s an 7-hour day on his feet the entire time. You are walking 5-7 miles,” LaCava said. “People want to see Tiger play or win a tournament again. There is so much more that goes into it physically than they probably realize.”
It’s been 35 years since the 57-year-old LaCava began to caddie on the tour. He caddied for his cousin, Danbury’s Ken Green, to start before going to work for Fred Couples a couple of years later.
That relationship lasted for approximately two decades. That included wins at the 1992 Masters and the 1996 Players Championship.
LaCava also worked briefly for Dustin Johnson among others before getting the call from Woods to start in 2011.
LaCava was inducted to the Caddies Hall of Fame in 2019. He is a member of the 2021 Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame. That ceremony has been postponed to this year.
“It’s one of those things for me that you get leery about because I didn’t play a sport,” LaCava said. “I’m not big on recognition, but getting into the Caddie Hall of Fame and having Tiger show up made it a special night.”
When he first saw Woods’ accident, LaCava’s initial concerns were if he was OK.
“I was texting with Rob (McNamara, vice president for TGR Ventures) and Mark (Steinberg, Woods’ agent) that day. I knew right away he was alive. I probably talked to Tiger two or three days after the initial accident. We exchanged some nice pleasantries. He roughed me up about one of my teams.”
LaCava is a huge New York Giants and Rangers fan. He also follows the UConn women’s basketball team.
LaCava said he didn’t go visit Woods in the hospital. He first went to see him at Woods’ home in April. His next visit to Orlando was over the summer with his wife Megan.
“He was still pretty laid up and banged up (in April),” LaCava said. “I was more optimistic (after seeing him) because his attitude was such that he said, ‘If they give me any kind of green light, I’ll do everything I can to come back.’”
LaCava estimated that green light came for Woods by late summer or early fall. That gave him the chance to do some light golf activities like chipping and putting.
Three month later, give or take, there was Tiger and Charlie, putting and fist-pumping their way to second place at the PNC.
LaCava did caddy in four events in 2021 — three four Couples on the Champions Tour and one for Patrick Cantlay at the first FedExCup playoff event in August because Cantlay’s regular caddie was ill. He got permission from Woods all four times.
After the winter months, LaCava will go back to playing golf — he is a 7-handicap — and he will continue to go watch his favorite sports team plays. Of course, there is spending time with Megan and his children, daughter Lauren, 24, and son Joe, both Pomperaug High graduates. Joe caddied for Charlie Woods at the PNC.
While he awaits his induction into the Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame, LaCava will fly to Florida to attend another Hall of Fame ceremony: Tiger’s induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame March 9 at PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach.
Maybe by then, he will have a better idea if, or when, his boss will return to tournament play.
“I’m certainly going to wait (not caddie for anyone else at this point). He’s been good to me and my family. I love him like a brother,” LaCava said. “I would say never say never, but I don’t really know at this point.”