With another surgery sidelining Tiger Woods for the foreseeable future, his longtime caddie Joe LaCava has reportedly made a move that will keep him employed long-term.
At the Zurich Classic of New Orleans just two weeks ago, LaCava looped for Steve Stricker, a good buddy of Woods’ who LaCava jumped at the opportunity to caddie for. Apparently, though, LaCava was angling for something a little more permanent, and he’s found exactly that in one of the best players in the world, Patrick Cantlay.
The news was first reported on Tuesday by Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis, who snapped a photo of LaCava at the range alongside Cantlay at the Wells Fargo Championship. LaCava has caddied for other players during his tenure on Woods’ bag before—including Cantlay, who used him at the 2021 Northern Trust—a necessity given how infrequently Woods plays even when healthy. But he’s always still gone back to Woods whenever the 15-time major champion tees it up.
That does not appear to be the case this time, with Lewis reporting this is a “permanent” move and not a one off at Quail Hollow:
This news comes just 12 days after Woods announced that he underwent a subtalar fusion procedure to address post-traumatic arthritis from the injuries to his right foot suffered in a car accident two years ago. That all but ended his 2023 season before it even really got started (Woods competed in just two events, the Genesis Invitational and the Masters), with one doctor stating he could be anywhere from six months to a year away from actually teeing it up again. LaCava, clearly seeing the writing on the wall, likely knew it was time to move on.
“He’s pretty banged up,” LaCava told the New York Post the week of the Masters, a tournament Woods eventually withdrew from due to injury. “If it wasn’t Augusta he probably wouldn’t be playing. He still has the power, the swing speed, the shots and the length to contend. The injury is devastating, but if he could take a cart he could contend tomorrow.”
Perhaps Woods will take a cart some day on the PGA Tour Champions, but that some day is still very far away and LaCava needs to work in the meantime. Getting on the bag of Cantlay, the No. 4-ranked player in the world, had to be an offer he couldn’t pass up. Unfortunately, this does mean that Matt Minister, Cantlay’s longtime caddie, is now out of a job. (A source tells Golf Digest that Cantlay let Minister go after the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.) Considering his résumé, which includes working with Nick Price, Jeff Sluman, Chris Kirk and Sangmoon Bae, he should be able to get on to another bag soon.
