Here are five things you might not have known about Tiger Woods, courtesy of his caddie Joe LaCava:
Tiger isn’t tough on waiters
“If you go to a restaurant, he’s just one of the guys,” LaCava said. “I’ve seen people out there just barking orders left and right because they’re professional golfers and they’ve done well. He doesn’t have that high-maintenance part to him. He’s just very polite, very easygoing, just low maintenance. … I just thought with his status, everything would’ve been done for him, catered for him. But Tiger likes to do a lot of stuff himself, which a lot of guys of that status don’t do.”
Tiger stays with his caddie and watches military-themed shows at The Open Championship
“Our usual annual trip where I stay with him is the British, because it’s so much easier to get around,” LaCava said. “And normally Tiger will bring his cook. I love to eat, so you’re having good food. It’s a fun week. We get to watch a little bit of the golf, or him and I like to watch a lot of anti-terrorist-related movies or shows. So him and I will watch shows like that all night. … It’s 4 o’clock in the afternoon in the States, and there’s nothing on. Usually it’s the [Major League Baseball] All-Star break, or you’re going to bed and the games are just starting. And we’re not watching cricket or soccer. He brings all that [military-themed] stuff over and we watch it.”
Tiger needs a lot of time to prepare for, and recover from, competitive rounds
“It varies in terms of how he’s feeling coming in, but the general answer is two to three hours to get ready, and then an hour afterwards going back to the trainer. … I used to wait for him after,” LaCava said. “Now he says, ‘I’m going to the trainer, put the clubs up and you’re out of here.'”
Tiger likes an advance scouting report on a course texted to him
“I can’t sleep the night before I don’t see a golf course before he gets to it — or at least without him,” LaCava said. “Listen, I’m not going to give him any groundbreaking news. But you’d be surprised. Tiger loves when I text him on a Monday or Tuesday and basically give him the lay of the land. Basically if it’s playing hard or fast, what the rough is like, the speed of the greens, that kind of stuff. It’s always going to change later in the week, but at least it gives him an idea in his head of what’s going on before he sees it, and maybe a little bit of a game plan.”
Tiger’s chewing gum remains a mystery to his caddie
“My wife is like, ‘What kind of gum is he chewing?’ I tell her I don’t know, and she’s looking at me like, ‘Why would you not ask Tiger that?’ People are fascinated that I don’t know about the gum or where he’s staying or what he’s doing,” LaCava said. “And I’m thinking, ‘I could care less what gum he’s chewing. I just want him to win.'”