Caddie LaCava: 'I was never not going to work for Tiger'

Joe LaCava didn’t caddie much while his boss, Tiger Woods, was recovering from four different back surgeries. He logged fewer than 20 tournaments with Woods in 2014-17. At one point, Woods even told LaCava that he was OK if LaCava found another golfer to loop for.

But LaCava, speaking during the ESPN documentary “Return of the Roar,” which aired Sunday night, said that he was prepared to wait a long time for Woods’ return.

Just how long?

“If I could live another hundred years, I’d wait another hundred years,” LaCava said. “I was never not going to work for Tiger as long as he was going to have me. I just wanted to work for him and no one else. And I think that helped a little bit, knowing that he had a friend that thought that much of him as a person and with his game.”

Said Woods: “Joey has been a part of all my back procedures. He’s seen all the bad stuff that’s gone on and how much pain it has caused me and how much it has hurt.”

Woods, of course, returned this past season, played 18 times, notched top 10s in two major championships, earned a Ryder Cup captain’s pick and qualified for the Tour Championship, which he won for his first victory since 2013.

And LaCava was there on the 18th green to share in the celebration.