Patrick Cantlay Didn’t Talk to Tiger Woods Before Hiring Caddie Joe LaCava

The golf world saw a bit of a surprise on Tuesday when longtime Tiger Woods caddie Joe LaCava was spotted on the bag of Patrick Cantlay on the practice green at Quail Hollow for the Wells Fargo Championship this week.

LaCava’s services evidently became available after Woods underwent another surgery on his leg following his injury during the third round of the Masters last month.

A familiar face back in action.@Patrick_Cantlay has Joe LaCava on the bag @WellsFargoGolf. pic.twitter.com/6Fu9YwV1rj

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 2, 2023

LaCava said that he received his employer’s blessing to caddie for Cantlay, presumably now that Woods will be out for the rest of golf’s major season.

Woods reportedly told his bag man since 2011:

“Go win some tournaments and have a great time.”

That blessing was apparently good enough for Cantlay, who parted ways with longtime caddie Matt Minister after the Zurich Classic a couple of weeks ago.

Patrick Cantlay said he did *not* speak to Tiger Woods before reaching out to Joe LaCava about caddieing for him. pic.twitter.com/flubODGWES

— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) May 3, 2023

Cantlay made the change after he was singled out by Brooks Koepka and Matt Fitzpatrick for slow play during the final round of the Masters. While the move doesn’t appear to be related, Cantlay also discussed those accusations on Wednesday, stating that sometimes conditions on the course warrant taking some extra time before swinging.

Cantlay said:

“When you get really tricky days and the greens are really fast and the hole locations are on lots of slope, it’s going to take a longer time to play.”

As for the arrangement with LaCava, it appears to be permanent—for now. All bets are off if Woods is able to return.

Cover Image Via Twitter