Joe LaCava has made a permanent change to Patrick Cantlay’s bag. Tiger Woods had been using LaCava for many years. Tiger Woods gave LaCava’s permission to leave. He’d been a loyal caddie to the 15-time Major Champion.
This move reflects Woods’s future as a golfer, but also Cantlay. The 31-year old has become one the world’s best players, but has not yet been a major factor in major championships. LaCava’s experience will be a “steady steering wheel”, according to him. In his press conference before the Wells Fargo Championship this week, he spoke of the change.
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“He has a steady grip on the wheel.” I know that he has been through every situation a caddie can be in, and he is a great guy. Cantlay said, “I’ve really enjoyed my limited time with Joe and I feel confident that our team will be successful.” “When I reached Joe, he told me it was possible. It ended up working out. I’m very happy about it.”
Matt Minister had been Cantlay’s previous caddie since 2011. Cantlay had Matt Minister on his bag as he ascended to the top of world rankings, and won the Fed Ex Cup Championship 2021.
Cantlay said, “Yeah we achieved a lot together. I’m proud of what we did.” “He is a good friend of mine, and we have had many great finishes and wins together.” “I’m so grateful to him. I just needed a break.”
Cantlay spoke of the backlash he has received for his slow play since The Masters weekend, and offered a solution.
If you wanted to get players to play faster, then you could put up the tees and put in easier hole locations. The greens would also roll at 10mph if that was what you wanted. You would just hope the wind never exceeded 10mph.
“When you have a really difficult day, the greens will be fast and the holes are located on slopes. It’s going take longer to play.”
“But as I’ve already said, the rounds on Tour are taking the same time, and I don’t think that they will set up the course in a manner, like I mentioned, to make the rounds go faster.”
Cantlay, along with his teammate Xander Schnauffele, finished the Zurich Classic of New Orleans 24 minutes earlier than scheduled.
He said that no one complained about the fact that they finished early.
Cantlay touched upon the “golf ball rolling back” proposal.
“I don’t think it would benefit the game.” He said that he thought bifurcation was bad for the sport. “I believe one of the greatest things about our sport is that everyone who plays at my club can use the same equipment as I do, and that’s a different experience than almost any other sport.”
“I imagine the best players will still be the best players.” Cantlay said that it would give more advantage to those who hit the ball far. If they dialed back the way they’re speaking about, a lot more guys would not be able get to some of the par 5s here. But the guys who can get there are still — The guys who get there now using long irons will be able get there with 3-woods or 5-woods. “I think that if the rules are changed, those who hit it farther will have an advantage.”
LaCava, the 4th-ranked golfer in the world, will be on the bag for the “designated” Wells Fargo Championship this week.
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