Much of the PGA TOUR’s focus this season has been on Tiger Woods and his remarkable turnaround but he’s not the only person who deserves credit for his comeback. And now, Caddie Joe Lacava will be getting some well-earned recognition as well.
It was announced that LaCava will be honored and inducted into the Caddie Hall of Fame on Wednesday night in a special ceremony. He is set to join the likes of Mike “Fluff” Cowan and Tiger’s former caddie Steve Williams in the HoF.
But LaCava initially did not want to accept the long-overdue honor because of all of the attention he would draw. That was until he spoke to another member of the Hall of Fame.
Jim “Bones” Mackay was inducted to the Caddie Hall of Fame in 2017 after all the work he had done with Phil Mickelson. Bones is a good friend of LaCava and quelled all of Joe’s fears of the whole thing being an unnecessary spectacle. According to LaCava, Bones is the one who really pushed him into accepting the great honor.
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“I’m just not comfortable with the attention,” LaCava said. “I’ve always been a guy who, I want Tiger to be the show. I want him doing the interviews and everything else. So that’s just not a comfortable role for me, but I think it’s terrific that they’re doing it and that they thought that much of me to do it.” And in a separate quote, he gave a shout out to Bones, saying he respects him so much that when he said that Joe should accept the invite LaCava was all-in.
While much of the honor will be due to LaCava’s work with Tiger since 2011, he has also carried the bag for many other big names in golf. Of the men he has stood next too many are Ryder Cup captains and major winners, including Davis Love III, Fred Couples, and Dustin Johnson. And anyone with that experience certainly deserves this recognition.
So while the focus will be on Tiger this week at the BMW Championship, it will be a nice honor for LaCava to participate in before the tournament kicks off. But like always, LaCava will just be counting down the hours until he’ll take the course with Woods at his side yet again.
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