Don’t ignore Tiger Woods or write him off just yet. Many people have had to swallow their remarks after doing that multiple times in the past. For ten years, Joe LaCava was Tiger Woods’ caddie. He believes that we cannot ignore Woods’s significant chances. Illusioned? Feelings-based? It’s okay to think so.
The 48-year-old has teed up in ten majors since his fifth Masters, missed cuts in four of them, and withdrew from two of them, including the Masters last year. The veteran’s greatest performance occurred at the 2019 U.S. Open, where he placed twenty-first. In the interim, Woods experienced a potentially fatal vehicle accident. In fact, Woods is unlikely to surpass Jack Nicklaus’ record in his estimation. Joe LaCava, however, remains optimistic, and for good cause.
“You can never write off Tiger, right? People have tried to do that for the last five (or) eight years now. And that hasn’t worked out for those people that wrote them off,” LaCava said in an honest conversation with John Rathouz of the Quiet Please Podcast, in response to the host’s question about Jack Nicklaus’s remarks from a few days ago.
But the seasoned bagman acknowledges that winning three majors just before turning 50 is a “tall task.” Tiger Woods has “obviously a ton of injuries” in addition to his advanced age. However, this is what gives him hope: “I do know he’s a lot healthier than he was, say, six months ago,” LaCava remarked. Therefore, never say never.
The looper states once more that it won’t be simple. Nevertheless, Joe LaCava “wouldn’t be surprised or shocked either, [If Woods] won another one and maybe got to 18,” given how Woods has defied all expectations and pushed the boundaries of possibility. The 69-year-old Morove believes Woods’s game is still adequate even though it isn’t at its best.
LaCava continues, “He’s the kind of guy where he can still hit all the shots.” Additionally, “He’s still long enough.” He is still able to putt as if there is no tomorrow. With all of this, he feels optimistic that Tiger Woods will be able to do a similar magic trick as that April night in Augusta. However, the earlier chat with the seasoned caddie presents a very different image.
The veteran caddie noted that Woods’ recent advice to LaCava to seek other opportunities rather than wait for his comeback sounded a lot like what his former employer, Fred Couples, had told him prior to his retirement. In fact, Woods had stated as recently as last month that he could play once a month in a realistic manner.
More significantly, his body no longer moves the same after the surgery. Tiger Woods, the 15-time major winner, must therefore modify his style of play at this point. That raises serious concerns about the realism of LaCava’s statements. We won’t get any indications till the Masters Tournament!
