Tiger Woods’ caddy got the call from the bullpen.
Joe LaCava is expected to be on Patrick Cantlay’s bag this week at the Liberty National Gold Club for The Northern Trust in Jersey City, New Jersey, the first of three FedEx Cup playoff events.
“He’s going to have to put up with the scrub cart this week,” LaCava joked to golf summary.
Cantlay regular caddy Matt Minister, who was on the sack for Cantlay’s last Memorial victory in June, is ruled out after testing positive for COVID-19. Cantlay replaced Rickie Fowler’s regular bagman Joe Skovron at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
Cantlay enters the week ranked third in the FedEx Cup points standings with two wins, and that’s not all that’s on the line for him in the playoff race.
Northern Trust: Departure times, TV info | Odds | Fancy
He needs to make up ground to earn an automatic pick for the USA Ryder Cup team or assure captain Steve Stricker that his game is in top shape for a captain’s pick. Cantlay played under Tiger Woods in the 2019 Presidents Cup in Australia.
Tiger caddie Joe LaCava is on Patrick Cantlay’s bag at the Northern Trust this week.
Just a replacement gig as Cantlay’s full-time looper Matt Minister is out with COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/4E8Xk53EaU
— Daniel Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) August 17, 2021
LaCava, who lives in Connecticut’s tri-state area and is a die-hard New York Giants fan, has been semi-retired since Tiger Woods was injured when he was involved in a single-car accident in February . Woods is currently recovering and has not released a timeline for his return.
Previously, when Woods was out with a back injury, LaCava asked if he was available to work, but politely declined to work for anyone else. That loyalty was rewarded with memorable wins with Woods at the 2018 Tour Championship, the 2019 Masters, his 15andmajor, and a Zozo Championship win in Japan that tied Sam Snead for the most PGA Tour wins with 82.
LaCava also played loop for former boss Fred Couples in the Principal Charity Classic on the PGA Tour Champions earlier this year. Couples finished tied for sixth place.
Cantlay is scheduled to tee off Thursday at 8:26 a.m. ET on the 10th tee.