Joe LaCava caddying for Patrick Cantlay at Wells Fargo Championship

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – World No. 4 Patrick Cantlay has a new caddie at this week’s Wells Fargo Championship, and for the foreseeable future.

Joe LaCava, who worked most recently for Tiger Woods and was the longtime caddie for Fred Couples before that, has joined Cantlay at Quail Hollow. Cantlay said it was his long association with Couples at Virginia Country Club in Newport Beach, California, where both have practiced in their off-weeks, that initially got him curious about the veteran caddie.

“Yeah, I've been friend with Fred Couples a long time,” Cantlay said. “He's been in Newport Beach for a number of years now and we've played a lot of golf together, so I've heard a number of great things about Joe. You know, when I reached out to Joe, he said it was possible and ended up working out and I'm really happy about it.”

LaCava, 59, has caddied in 30-plus victories on the PGA TOUR. He has worked mostly on PGA TOUR Champions this year, three times for Couples and once for Steve Stricker. He also caddied twice for Woods, at The Genesis Invitational and the Masters, before the 82-time PGA TOUR winner went in for recent ankle surgery that could put him out for six months.

“Tiger’s not going to play much going forwards," LaCava said. "Obviously he’s not retiring. But he’s going to play two to six tournaments a year. Tiger and I have talked about if something were to come up, feel free to do something. 'I know how much you miss it, how much you love caddying.’ And when this opportunity arose, I checked with Tiger. And he said, 'You’re crazy not to take the job, go forward, go win some tournaments, go have a great time.'

“I missed it and I wanted to work more,” LaCava continued. “(Cantlay) knows me well enough, and I know him well enough, that we know it's hopefully-slash-probably going to work."

LaCava caddied for Cantay at THE NORTHERN TRUST in 2021. Cantlay tied for 11th but went on to win his next two starts with regular caddie Matt Minister to capture the FedExCup.

Cantlay is in the middle of a season that has seen him post six top-10 finishes but no wins in 11 starts. He is sixth in the FedExCup and fourth in the Official World Golf Ranking. An eight-time PGA TOUR winner, he said he was proud of the heights he’d reached with Minister.

“Yeah, we accomplished a lot together and I'm really proud of all we accomplished,” Cantlay said. “He's a great friend of mine and we had a lot of good finishes together and a lot of wins. I'm incredibly grateful to him, just needed a change.”