“Jeez, doesn’t your dad have a job?”: Joe LaCava once recalled how he spent his time off during Tiger Woods’ injury-stricken period
There was a time when Joe LaCava, Tiger Woods' former caddie, had so little work that he didn't miss a single one of his son's football and baseball games. LaCava was so omnipresent at home that his son's teammates would jokingly ask him if his dad didn't 'have a job'.
Tiger Woods is about to make another return to the courses and the occasion brings back memories of his previous absences. Who better to turn to than Joe LaCava, who has been with him on most of those occasions?
In 2016, Tiger Woods made a comeback after spending more than a year out due to injury. At the time, Joe LaCava was interviewed by The New York Times, and he recounted how he had handled so much time off work.
According to Tiger Woods' then caddie, he devoted a lot of time to his children and his family in general. In particular, he did not miss any of the football and baseball games that his son played, who was then a senior in high school.
According to Joe LaCava, his presence at the games was so frequent that his son was teased.
"The running joke was they’d say to my son, 'Jeez, doesn’t your dad have a job?,'" LaCava told The New York Times in December 2016.
The legendary caddie explained that he had so much time on his hands because he wanted to be ready whenever Tiger Woods was up for a practice round. Here's how the 68-year-old put it:
"It’s hard to tell a guy [referring to some other golfer], 'Look, I’m going to come out here, but Tiger might call me next week and I'll be back at it, because when Tiger comes calling I'm going to go back to work for him. That’s just not the right thing to do. So I wasn’t going to go work for anyone else."
LaCava also expressed his confidence in Woods' return. His 20-year experience in caring for Fred Couples' bag gave him an appreciation of the legendary player's chances of recovery.
These were his words:
"I'm not trying to play Joe Doctor, but I saw Fred [Couples] fight through it. He was able to play. He never felt great, and he was never the same after he hurt it, but he also had success after he hurt it. Nobody’s as determined as Tiger, and I figured if Fred could fight through it, so could Tiger."
A look at Tiger Woods' performance with Joe LaCava as a caddie
Tiger Woods and Joe LaCava began their caddie/player relationship in 2011. They worked together until May 2023, when LaCava started working with Patrick Cantlay.
At the time, LaCava said he had Woods' blessing to make the switch because they didn't know how long it would take for the legend to return.
With LaCava looking after his bag, Woods won 11 PGA Tour tournaments, with one of them being a major (The Masters in 2019). He also won The Arnold Palmer Invitational twice (2012 and 2013), The PLAYERS Championship in 2013, and the TOUR Championship in 2018.