Tiger’s Caddie Waits Like the Rest of Us

Lost amongst all the Tiger Woods “will he ever play again”, or “when will he play again,” stories is the fact that his caddie, Joe LaCava, has kind of been left holding a bag with no clubs.

ESPN.com caught up with the 30-year veteran to find out what he’s been up to.  Turns out, he’s basically been waiting like the rest of us to find out if Tiger will ever play again.

 
He’s been keeping busy by playing a ton of golf, about fifty rounds between September and November.

“That’s a ton for me,” LaCava said, “Some days were 27 holes.  And I had a blast doing it.  And I’m surprised how many of my friends could take off, you know, guys with normal jobs.  I never had trouble filling a foursome.”

He’s also been able to attend all of his son’s football games, drop his daughter off at college, and gone to a whole bunch of New York Giants, New York Rangers, and UConn games.

And while that’s all well and good, the question remains.  Is he going to wait for Tiger or move on?

LaCava saw his first success carrying the bag of Fred Couples, winning 12 times, including a Masters and Players Championship.  When Freddie took breaks due to his own bad back, LaCava did not sit at home.  He caddied for several golfers, guys like Mark Calcavecchia, Justin Leonard, and Camilo Villegas, just to name a few.

“A couple of guys approached me, I don’t want to name any names, but I [politely] said no,” LaCava said about offers to caddie part-time.

“My plan is to wait for Tiger to get back.  I’ve told them I just want to work for Tiger and nobody else at this point.”

“I still have faith he’s going to continue to do well and win.  My thought is he will overcome the injury or whatever you want to call it.  He might not be able to play as often as he would like.  Once he’s healed from this, he’ll come back and play again and play well.  My outlook is basically the same as when I started with him.  He’s Tiger Woods.”

 
Many may call him foolish for waiting, but one thing you can’t call him is disloyal.

And since he’s waiting for Tiger to come back, I guess that means I can’t wait to see Joe LaCava caddying again.

Cover Photo via Flickr