Editor’s note: CBS will replay the 2019 Masters from 12:30-6 p.m. Sunday.
Joe LaCava and Tiger Woods walked side by side en route to a fifth green jacket in the 2019 Masters.
Then the two sat side by side to watch a replay of the comeback for the ages at Woods’ palatial Florida estate.
“It was cool,” LaCava told Golfweek recently about watching the final round of his boss’ fifth Masters title, 15th major championship triumph and first since spinal fusion surgery in 2017 gave him back his way of life and resurrected his career. “We were bouncing through it, just to see some of the shots, reminiscing about certain swings, certain thoughts, some of the conversations we had, certain memories.”
Now LaCava, sheltered at his Connecticut home with his family as the COVID-19 global pandemic has postponed the 2020 Masters and crippled professional sports worldwide, might take a seat once again when CBS re-airs the electric final round of the 2019 Masters on Sunday. If he so chooses, he’ll watch the entire broadcast but certain moments will stand out.
What happened at the heart of Amen Corner, for instance. No, not the calamity that included Francesco Molinari, Tony Finau, Brooks Koepka and Ian Poulter all rinsing tee shots in Rae’s Creek within 30 minutes of each other. Instead, it was what his man in the red shirt did on the 12th with the shortest club in his bag.
“The first thing that comes to mind about the final round is the putt on 12, the 6- to 7-footer that breaks left to right. It’s one of those putts I’ve seen a million times, where if you’re just a little soft with it, it breaks really hard toward Rae’s Creek,” said LaCava, who also was on the bag when Fred Couples won the 1992 Masters and has been a part of 11 of Woods’ record-tying 82 PGA Tour titles. “And Tiger fired it in there like it was a 1-footer and that was huge. A great par putt. We gained two strokes on Tony and Francesco and Brooks and Poults, so that was big.”
As was the go-ahead birdie on the par-5 15th and the tee shot on 16 that Woods nearly holed and led to a kick-in birdie.
Definitely the tee shot on the tight par-4 17th.
“Under the circumstances, that drive was as good as I’ve seen from him,” LaCava said. “It was just a hard cut that moved like three yards at the most. It was just a bullet, as good as he can hit it, and he’s in the middle of the fairway. Perfect drive. And to top it off, we had a perfect 9-iron number to the green, which was kind of nice.”
As was the aftermath, especially the time LaCava basked in the glowing light of victory while sitting on the back end of the courtesy SUV some 45 minutes after he and Woods shared an emotional hug on the 18th green.
“Sitting there, there was so much satisfaction,” he said. “I was so happy for both of us. And thinking about what he went through to get there, that we never lost faith in each other. And it’s the Masters. And it’s Tiger.
“I was on cloud nine sitting there and basically I still am a year later.”
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