When discussing where Rory McIlroy’s win ranks amongst the greatest in Masters history, many picked out Tiger Woods’ 2019 victory as arguably the most significant of the great man’s five triumphs at Augusta National.
Few performances have announced a player’s arrival on the big stage quite like Tiger Woods‘ victory in 1997 when he finished 12 shots clear of anyone else. But the 2019 Masters hit just a little differently.
Woods went into that year with some momentum under his belt. He had, of course, won the Tour Championship the previous year in those incredible scenes at East Lake. But few would have imagined that he had another Masters win in him.
It had been nearly 11 years since Woods had won his 14th major. No-one could have known that he would not win another major for more than a decade after his victory at Torrey Pines.
What Tiger Woods told Joe LaCava after winning The Masters in 2019
That meant that his win in 2019 was all the more special. Everyone in attendance would have known that there was a real chance that it may prove to be Woods’ final major victory. And thus, it seems that everyone spent just a little longer taking it all in.
It was Joe LaCava who had one of the best seats in the house that day. It was the one major win from LaCava’s time carrying Woods’ bag.
And while speaking to Bridgestone Golf later that year, LaCava explained what Woods said to him after the victory which seemingly meant more to him than anything else.
“He says ‘we did it’, which is nice. I loved the moment, it’s an incredible moment I think about 24/7, I think about it all the time. But I wanted him to enjoy the moment for a minute by himself, shake everyone’s hands, which is the proper thing to do, and then we had a great moment together on the green, shoving each other, because we did that back in 2013 at TPC. So it was just our little thing and a neat moment,” he said.
“And you get goosebumps the fact the first thing he says is we did it. He always makes you feel like part of the team. I feel more like a friend than a caddie with Tiger.”
How long Tiger Woods and Joe LaCava worked together for
Woods and LaCava began working together in 2011. Previously, the 49-year-old had won the majority of his major titles with Steve Williams on the bag.
Of course, the stage of Woods’ career while working with LaCava was plagued by injury problems. He did not play a single major across 2016 and 2017. He had also missed the cut in three of the four majors in 2015.
Ultimately, they would continue to work together until 2023, with LaCava moving on to work with Patrick Cantlay.
Unfortunately, Woods has not played often enough since then. He has had the likes of Rob McNamara and Lance Bennett on the bag. But there are now fears that Woods will not play again this year after rupturing his Achilles in the weeks leading up to The Masters.
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