AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods is the king of pain, but as he addressed the Masters media on Tuesday, his longtime caddie sat on a bench in the distance and spoke of that pain’s staggering toll. At the Genesis Invitational that Woods hosted in February, Joe LaCava watched Tiger’s damaged right leg wear down his man hole by hole, round by round.
“Obviously it affected him physically, but I think it got to him mentally because he’s grinding to block out the pain,” LaCava told The Post. “I think that messes with you a little bit upstairs, and that’s the first time I saw him trying so hard to block it out mentally.”
Mind over matter isn’t a foolproof approach for a golfer who nearly lost his leg to horrific injuries suffered in a car crash, not when that leg and the hardware holding it together start screaming for relief. LaCava has been with Woods for nearly 12 years, and the two have grown close. Out of concern, the caddie will ask his boss how he’s holding up, and Woods will tell him he’s fine without adding another word.
“As if to say, ‘Don’t even go there,’ ” LaCava said. “It hurts. There’s no sense in discussing it. It’s a fact of life.”
Another fact of life for Woods: His double bogeys on and off the golf course are out there for everyone to see. His personal flaws and private disputes play out in the public arena, part of the high price of fame.
At the Genesis, Woods did a dumb and insensitive thing when he handed Justin Thomas a tampon for apparently hitting his ball in a less-than-manly way. In March, the published details of a lawsuit filed by ex-girlfriend Erica Herman included alleged personal conduct — denied by Woods’ attorneys — that would be considered unbecoming at best.
Given that fatherhood, career-threatening injuries and comebacks from self-imposed adversity had humanized Tiger some in recent years and cast him as something other than that soulless terminator from his prime, LaCava was asked if he was concerned that Woods had hurt his upgraded image. After the caddie helped Tiger win the 2019 Masters, he sat in the club’s parking lot and talked of how Woods had become more user-friendly by high-fiving kids, signing more autographs and making more eye contact with fans.
“Being in the spotlight,” LaCava said, “you’re always going to get punches thrown at you. I think Tiger’s been through so many different things in the public eye — good, bad or indifferent — that I’m not saying you get used to it, it bothers you regardless. But I think he’s got the mindset that he’s able to deal with [the Herman case,] even though it’s in the public, and still do what he has to on the golf course and at home with his family.
“Tiger’s still well received. We played a practice round Monday morning and there were still a million people out there and they were going crazy for him. There might be one or two guys who are less of a fan, but the majority still love the guy.”
A passionate Giants fan from Connecticut thrilled that Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley will be in the 2023 lineup (LaCava wore a Barkley T-shirt under his white Masters jumpsuit for Tiger’s epic 2019 victory), LaCava spoke Tuesday of a Woods few get to see.
Tiger gave him a Rolex watch after that fifth Masters victory; it’s too flashy for the Everyman caddie to take it out of the box. When Woods learned that LaCava’s daughter Lauren was celebrating a birthday in Florida, he insisted that she and Joe’s wife, Megan, stay in Tiger’s beach house and arranged for surprise birthday balloons, presents and lunch on his yacht.
Years ago, LaCava said Woods spotted him wearing loud multicolored socks as part of a fundraiser for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and casually mentioned that he’d built a library for those kids. “He’s done so many of those things that people don’t know about,” LaCava said.
The caddie reported that the 47-year-old Woods joked with fans Monday — he told one to pick up his errant tee shot and throw it past Fred Couples’ ball — and met with Augusta National Women’s Amateur champ Rose Zhang and Drive, Chip and Putt winners. “Tiger would’ve never done that years ago,” LaCava said.
He won’t have many more chances to engage a Masters gallery, something even Woods admitted. Tiger somehow made the cut on one leg last year and it would be an upset if he doesn’t make the cut again on muscle memory.
But does he have a legit shot at a sixth green jacket? LaCava is worried about the rust, the weather forecast (“I can’t imagine him trying to go 27-plus holes [in one day] around here”), and that damn pain.
“He’s pretty banged up,” LaCava said. “If it wasn’t Augusta he probably wouldn’t be playing. … He still has the power, the swing speed, the shots and the length to contend. The injury is devastating, but if he could take a cart he could contend tomorrow.”
No, Woods won’t be in a cart for the first round Thursday morning. He will be walking out there with his familiar caddie and that familiar pain, trying to make magic at the Masters one last time.
