Tiger Woods' Caddie Joe LaCava Accepts Full-Time Job with Patrick Cantlay
As Tiger Woods recovers from ankle surgery that will keep him out of action for the foreseeable future, his longtime caddie is going to work with Patrick Cantlay.
Per Golf Channel's Todd Lewis, LaCava's move to Cantlay is on a full-time basis and it came with Woods' blessing:
Woods announced on April 19 he underwent subtalar fusion surgery "to address his post-traumatic arthritis from his previous talus fracture." The procedure came after he withdrew from the Masters prior to the start of the third round because of a foot injury.
LaCava has been working with Woods since 2011 after Tiger parted ways with Steve Williams.
Speaking to ESPN's Bob Harig in February 2016, LaCava said he turned down offers from other golfers for part-time work to wait for Woods to return from a microdiscectomy surgery.
"A couple of guys approached me, I don't want to name any names, but I [politely] said no," LaCava explained. "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. They were all nice about it. They didn't know what my situation was. I've elected to wait things out with Tiger and that is my plan going forward."
Woods won 11 tournaments with LaCava as his caddie, including the 2019 Masters. It remains the most recent victory in a major tournament for the 47-year-old, who suffered the initial talus bone injury and multiple other open fractures to his right leg in a single-car crash in February 2021.
Cantlay is currently the No. 4 player in Official World Golf Rankings. He has yet to win on the PGA Tour this season, but he does have five top-10 finishes in 10 tournaments.
