Inside the life of a PGA Tour caddie: Tiger, Rory and how to win at Wells Fargo

The life of an elite PGA Tour caddie has always been somewhat mysterious to me.

There they are, always two steps behind the golfer getting the headlines. The top caddies know what is needed in a game where so much depends on confidence and provide it. They unofficially serve as coach, psychiatrist and pack mule.

Joe LaCava is one of the best caddies in the world, having worked on the PGA Tour for more than 35 years. Most famously, he was Tiger Woods’ caddie for roughly a decade, but he also worked for 20-plus years for Fred Couples and, currently, for world No. 8 golfer Patrick Cantlay, who is in the Wells Fargo field this week.

A member of the Caddie Hall of Fame, LaCava was in Charlotte on Tuesday morning as the featured speaker at the Hood Hargett Breakfast Club. He and I had an on-stage interview that was supplemented by occasional questions from the audience, and LaCava’s quotes in this story come from that appearance. LaCava told stories about working for Tiger Woods, his brief spat with Rory McIlroy at the Ryder Cup last year and how he thinks the Wells Fargo Championship will be won this week.

Let’s start with the Wells Fargo Championship, which begins stroke play Thursday at Quail Hollow Club. LaCava characterized Quail Hollow as “a little bit of a bomber’s paradise,” meaning it favors long hitters.

“I went out there (Monday),” LaCava said. “There was not a lot of rough. So I think you’ve gotta bomb it. It’s a great golf course for Rory McIlroy (who has won the event three times). ... I think length off the tee helps and then the greens are extremely firm. ... Patrick (Cantlay) is capable of all that, but you’ve still got to get it done.”

Of Woods, whom he caddied for following Couples, LaCava said he found out early how detailed and technical Woods liked to be.

“With Tiger,” LaCava said, “I would do all my research on a Monday or a Sunday and then I would send him a very, very lengthy text. And he loved that. He liked to know all that before he got on the golf course. How the golf course might play that weekend. He loved that kind of stuff. And then Fred Couples — he didn’t want to think about the golf until Thursday (the day most tournaments begin).”

In his decade working for Tiger, which included Woods’ win at the 2019 Masters, LaCava said they shared dozens of meals but they were mostly room service, since Woods had a difficult time going out in public due to his level of fame. However, very early in their relationship, Woods invited him to eat a steak dinner at 5 p.m., at a restaurant opening at that exact hour.

“So I show up at 5 o’clock,” LaCava said, laughing, “and Tiger is already halfway through his steak. ... He got there early, ordered a salad, steak and baked potato, and cuts it all up and eats it in about four minutes. As soon as my salad comes, Tiger is done with his steak, and he gets up and leaves. We spent about six minutes together. From then on, I knew it was Tom Coughlin time — 5 p.m. means 10 minutes until 5.”

But Woods’ talent, even though he had seen it for years on the tour while working for Couples, would still occasionally floor LaCava. At one early tournament, when Woods needed a birdie on the final hole to assure a win, he ended up with a 20-foot putt.

“The putt was fast, from 20 feet, and it breaks two or three feet,” LaCava said. “And he rolled this thing in like it’s a one-footer. And I said, ‘Damn! I’m about to get rich.’”

LaCava is from Connecticut and still makes his home there, flying to every tournament to meet Cantlay. He said he’s on the road about 150 nights a year. A decent golfer himself who briefly played college golf and now has a 7-handicap, LaCava’s big early break came when he caddied for his cousin, Ken Green.

Green was a successful golfer who won five times on the PGA Tour. And on the tour, LaCava began to get to now people, which helped to lead with his partnership with Couples.

In 1992, Couples won the Masters and LaCava was thrilled. Caddies make more money when their players win — much of their yearly earnings is tied to how well their golfer does — but it wasn’t all that. LaCava was happiest that he had caddied for a Masters winner, and to commemorate that he decided to take not only the No. 18 flagstick (common for the winning caddie to do) but also take the flagstick itself.

“So this man from Pinkerton security (which worked the Masters at the time) said very nicely: ‘Son, where are you going with that? You can’t have that. That’s Augusta’s property,’” LaCava remembered. “Typical me. I said, ‘If you can get if from me, you can have it.’ He didn’t say anything. I didn’t say anything. And I walked off (with the flag and the stick, which LaCava still has along with a similar trophy from Woods’ 2019 Masters win).”

In 2023, LaCava was most in the news when he had an argument with McIlroy on the course. Cantlay had rolled in a crucial 40-foot putt, and LaCava started swinging his cap wildly, mimicking what the crowd in Italy had been doing all day. The rest of the Americans followed suit.

While still celebrating, LaCava got near McIlroy — who had yet to putt on the hole — and McIlroy snapped at him. LaCava snapped back.

“I don’t really want to share what was exchanged, but it was a little heated for 10 or 15 seconds,” LaCava said. “I was fired up. And I realized, ‘OK, I’m just a caddie. I’ve gotta back off a little.’ But at the same time you get caught up with that emotion because you are part of the team.”

World No. 2 McIlroy — who has called LaCava’s hat-waving that day in 2023 “disrespectful” and occasionally worse —is playing in Charlotte and will be the favorite to win the tournament, which concludes Sunday.

“Are we having dinner tonight?” LaCava said, smiling. “Probably not. But I don’t think we hate each other. I’ve always enjoyed Rory’s company, because him and Tiger are kind of tight. But again, we’re not breaking bread.”

Lastly, LaCava was asked about Woods’ future, since he still remains in contact with Woods, whose most recent seasons have been hamstrung by injury. Woods will turn 50 and be eligible for the PGA Tour Champions senior circuit on Dec. 30, 2025.

Said LaCava of Woods: “I know he misses the game… I think he will test the waters on the senior tour and see if he likes it. ... It would be a great boost for the senior tour. ... He’s at an age where I could see him playing 4-5 events out here (on the PGA Tour), and maybe 4-5 out there (on the PGA Tour Champions). He’s never actually said that. And I also think he’s interested in following Charlie’s career (Woods 15-year-old son is an aspiring golfer himself) and also his daughter, Sam (age 17), who might become a college soccer player.”