“I was afraid to read a putt,” Joe LaCava opens up about experience of caddying for golf greats like Fred Couples and Tiger Woods

In an exclusive Q&A with GOLF's Sean Zak, Joe LaCava gives in-depth details on how his career began and what it takes to be a caddie for golfing greats.

“I was afraid to read a putt,” Joe LaCava opens up about experience of caddying for golf greats like Fred Couples and Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods and Joe LaCava [Image Credit: Joe LaCava]

Caddying is a quite crucial aspect of golf. Duties for a caddie include carrying a player’s bag and clubs, doing any course maintenance, and giving the player important insights and moral support. Joe LaCava is the name of one such caddie, who has been in this career for over 40 years now.

LaCava started his career in the 1980s. He recently opened up about how it feels to carry the kit for the game’s great starting from Ken Green to Fred Couples, Dustin Johnson, Tiger Woods, and now Patrick Cantlay. “I always felt I had a knack for reading greens,” he said.

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In a Q&A session with GOLF’s Sean Zak, he was asked about where this all began. He replied saying he used to caddie his dad or someone else as a three-day member-guest or for the club tournament. He got his big start through his cousin Ken Green in 1987. But he never thought that he wanted this for his career, and eventually will come this far.

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Although he admitted his love for his career, he also revealed how “I was afraid to read a putt” at Augusta on the 70th hole, when LaCava was the caddie for Tiger Woods. He remembers Woods teasing him later on for being scared as the legend won his fifth green jacket. “It happened so quick,” he said.

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Joe LaCava on the difficulties of transition from one player to another

While discussing the player-caddie relationship and the transition from one kit to another, Joe LaCava said that one has to blend well with the player and his surroundings. Because the fact is that one has to get along with a guy for anywhere 9 hours a day, a week, which can be for 28 straight days.

Joe LaCava and Tiger Woods (Photo by Golf Magazine)

Talking about his relationship with Tiger Woods he said, what he found so interesting about Woods was “how low maintenance he is“. He never asks for much, but “he likes a lot of information“. The other thing about Woods that impressed him was how he takes ownership of everything on the golf course.

Joe LaCava parted ways with the golfing legend last year and is caddying for golf pro-Patrick Cantlay now. The duo is currently in California for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am 2024, where Cantlay shot 8-under 64 to finish Day 1 in solo second place.

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