PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Joe LaCava stood by Tiger Woods even when that meant sitting at home. For the better part of the past two years, caddie and player were separated by roughly 1,300 miles — LaCava in Connecticut, Woods in Florida — and a seemingly impassable expanse of uncharted territory as Woods entered his 40s and attempted to come back from several surgeries, including a back fusion last April.
As Woods rested, per doctors’ orders, so did a hale LaCava, who could have found lucrative work caddying for any number of other stars.
In the nine months between Woods’s fusion surgery and his unofficial return to competitive golf, three major winners — Phil Mickelson, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy — let their longtime loopers go.