Patrick Cantlay fires 67 with Joe LaCava: ‘It’s a pretty easy transition’

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Patrick Cantlay is among the more contemplative players on the PGA Tour. In a 2022 interview with Golf Channel, Cantlay’s former caddie Matt Minister said of his boss: “There’s no grab-ass or anything going on. It’s all business the entire time we’re out there. He’s just unbelievably focused. Everything he does is calculated.”

Thursday at the Wells Fargo Championship, Cantlay’s new caddie, Joe LaCava, seemed to have figured out the routine quickly. Cantlay opened with a 4-under 67 at Quail Hollow and was a shot off the early lead in his first event with LaCava as his full-time caddie.

Full-field scores from the Wells Fargo Championship

“[LaCava] filled in a week for me a couple years ago. We’ve known each other a few years now and he’s a pro and I’ve been doing it a little while now, so it’s a pretty easy transition,” Cantlay said.

LaCava spent more than a decade caddying for Tiger Woods and adjusting to a new personality is normally the most challenging part of a new bag, but he and Cantlay, who he worked for at the 2021 Northern Trust, proved to be a good fit.

“[Fred Couples] just spoke so highly of [LaCava] not just as a caddie but as a friend, that he’s just a great dude. I trust Fred a lot, he’s a good friend of mine and I’ve gotten pretty close to him over the years, so when he says something like that, I know he keeps a tight circle, he means it,” Cantlay said.