What makes the difference between winning and losing on the greens? According to Joe LaCava, Tiger Woods’s ex-caddie, it’s the golfer’s attitude. The legend Tiger Woods seemed plenty plagued by this attitude during his subsequent failures at TPC Sawgrass. Woods has made a total of 19 appearances at The PLAYERS Championship. Among these appearances, he missed the cut once in 2011 due to a left leg injury. As for the rest? The golfer secured only two wins (2001, 2013).
But with a total of 11 years between his PLAYERS wins, Woods failed to finish better than 8th since his 2001 victory. According to Tiger Woods, that was a poor run of form. Undoubtedly, he needed someone to come to his rescue. The veteran caddie, Joe LaCava, took matters into his own hands and gave Woods a pep talk. Did it work?
Yes, it worked. By the time the final round of The PLAYERS Championship rolled around, Woods had secured his second PLAYERS win with a 13-under total. Fast forward 12 years, and LaCava has discussed the win once again. So, what does the veteran caddie think about taking on a final round at TPC Sawgrass? Certainly, it must be difficult. Joe LaCava agrees. “As you know, it’s not an easy finish. I have been fortunate to work for guys who won a couple of times there. They finished off in style. You know, Tiger hit that great 7-iron on 16 into the front bunker…”
Fred Couples won the 1996 PLAYERS title with Joe LaCava on his bag. Having accompanied another champion, how did he handle Tiger Woods’s nerves? “I basically told him… I said, ‘Tiger, this course is cut out for you.’” He discussed the course with Tiger and noted that “he took it to heart and won that tournament in 2013. One of my most special moments.”
The reason why this particular moment resonated with LaCava so much is because of Tiger Woods. He agrees that he isn’t the sole reason why Woods won, but the legend often needs reminders “why he should do something.” LaCava explains that Woods never approached the greens with a bad attitude, but “his attitude was a little defeatist.”
Again, this had everything to do with Tiger Woods’s constant losses at TPC Sawgrass following that 2001 win. Back in 2013, LaCava expressed something similar: “I had nothing to do with the win. That’s all on those guys. But an attitude change helped, I think, that week.” Needless to say, his faith in the golfer remains intact. But this wasn’t the last time LaCava caddied for Woods. Here’s a brief look at it.
Joe LaCava’s and his relationship with the golf legend Tiger Woods
Everything goes back to their first event in 2011, the Frys.com Open. Tiger Woods, who had recently split from his ex-caddie, Steve Williams, didn’t ask much from LaCava—at least until they reached a par 3 on the back 9. There, Woods inquired about the yardage to a pin on a two-tiered green. This caught LaCava off guard; however, he was ready with a solution. Tiger asked, “Can I get a 7-iron there?” LaCava advised, “You can get it on top, but you can’t get it to the hole.”
So what happened after that? Well, Tiger Woods proved to Joe LaCava why he was special. “And so he hits this beautiful little tight draw, 10 feet right of the hole pin high, beautiful shot. And he just kinda gave me a look without saying anything as if to say, ‘Don’t ever tell me I can’t do something.’ You know, I got that look, and I thought it was great.”
“About four minutes later we walk up to the green and the ball is barely short of pin high, so I look at him and I say, ‘Well, it’s not pin high.’ And he smiled at me. . . . It was one of those things, right away we clicked. And we knew were going to get along very well and give each other a hard time, which we still do to this day.”
Fast forward 8 years and Tiger Woods dons the green jacket after his win at the 2019 Masters. Joe LaCava was with him at that time, and the two shared a heartfelt hug after the victory. What happens when LaCava checks his phone that same night? He finds a text from Woods: “We did it, appreciate you hanging in there with me, I love you like a brother.”
However, the two parted ways in 2023 so that LaCava could caddie for Patrick Cantlay on a full-time basis. They have remained friends. Although Tiger Woods will not be playing at The PLAYERS Championship, we are sure that LaCava’s best wishes are with the golfer.
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