Fred Couples doffed his visor and smiled. And Joe LaCava just started walking.
You may remember what had come moments earlier. During the first round of the 1999 Players Championship, Couples hit his tee shot on the island-green 17th at TPC Sawgrass, his ball came up short and rinsed — and he re-teed and dunked one. A hole-in-three. An ace plus two. They’re an odd accomplishment — you can’t have the good shot without the bad one that preceded it— but they’re also a symbol of recovery.
They happen every so often, and the most recent PGA Tour example came two weeks ago, during the second round of the Honda Classic. Kyle Stanley’s tee ball was wet, too, on the par-3 15th at PGA National, he walked to the drop zone, and you know the rest. On his second swing, Stanley hit about 10 feet past the hole, his ball spun back, and it rolled in.
It was memorable. And it brought to mind Couples. And LaCava.
On the NBC broadcast of the Honda, on-course analyst John Wood shared a story of what happened after the shot in ’99. Highlights now only show Couples tipping his visor to the fans, and LaCava — who’s now Tiger Woods’ caddie — marching ahead.
“Hey, John Wood, I know you got a little extra tag to that Fred Couples story involving Joe LaCava, Fred’s caddie,” announcer Dan Hicks said.
“Fred’s caddie, Joe, who now caddies for Tiger, kind of just ignored Fred after he holed it out for three,” Wood said. “And Fred kinda said, Joey, what was that about? I’m expecting some sort of congratulations.
“And Joe says, ‘I don’t give high-fives for a par on a 9-iron par-3.’”
Wow.
“Just a classic LaCava,” Hicks said.
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“LaCava’s got a reputation for being a little bit harsh on the guys from time to time,” Begay said.
There was more. A little later in the broadcast, analyst Brad Faxon said he had texted Couples for his thoughts.
He immediately knew the story.
“I texted Fred Couples after we showed that replay of Freddie dunking it on 17,” Faxon said on the broadcast. “I said, are you watching this? He goes, no, but I told him the story.
“He goes, Joe was hot. He spelled ‘hot’ ‘h-o-t-t.’”
Notably, Couples and LaCava reunited last week during the Cologuard Classic on the PGA Tour Champions circuit, and on the grounds, they talked more Players, with the moment shared Tuesday by the tour’s social media team.
Specifically, LaCava remembered the talk he gave Woods ahead of his 2013 victory.
“We obviously we know we had so much fun, Joey and I, at the Players with hole-in-ones and hole-in-threes, but this guy has also had more fun after he dropped me as a caddie,” said Couples, a two-time winner of the event.
“I don’t know about more fun,” LaCava said, “but yes, I mean, I had another good time, another good week with Tiger in 2013 at TPC. He played pretty flawless, like you did.”
“Well, there was a huge hug,” Couples said. “There was a huge hug.”
“Well, there’s a little backstory,” LaCava said. “I won’t get crazy about it, but I basically told him — well, a pep talk. I said, listen, Fred owned this golf course and he owned it for one reason. To me, it’s a second-shot golf course — premium on iron shots, you got to hit it to the right spots, a lot of 6-, 7-, 8-iron, that kind of thing. And you know, Fred back in his day, was probably the best iron player that I saw during that era, and I think Tiger’s the best of all time; I didn’t see the old guys, you know, Lee Trevino, the whole nine yards.
“And I just sort of — I didn’t change his mindset, but I got him thinking a little bit, which is all you need to do with Tiger. And I think he gave it some good thought, and he said, you know what, I think you’re probably right. I should do better there. And I don’t want — again, I don’t think he had a bad attitude going in there; I think he had just a little bit of a defeatist attitude that happened to change a little bit. He ends up winning in 2013
“I think that led to the big hug, and he was just appreciative of the fact that, you know, he got his mindset in the right spot for that place. I had nothing to do with the win — it’s all on those guys — but an attitude change helped that week, I think.”
