Caddie Joe LaCava Jr. follows in famous father's footsteps, caddies for first PGA Tour win
Joe Highsmith wasn't the only Joe to secure his first win on the PGA Tour on Sunday.
Like father, like son. Caddie Joe LaCava Jr., son of the legendary caddie, also grabbed his first flag at the 18th at PGA National's Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Highsmith, with LaCava Jr. on the bag, shot a bogey-free 64 to win the 2025 Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches by two strokes.
'We've had an incredible time since we started together last fall,' Highsmith said. 'Today, he was awesome and kept me centered and we were just focused on my shots and keeping it generally pretty light out there. That was awesome.'
LaCava previously looped a winning bag on PGA Tour Champions in 2023 for Steve Stricker at the Regions Tradition. He worked last season on the Korn Ferry Tour for Logan McCallister, who earned a spot at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.
LaCava's father cut his teeth caddying for his brother-in-law, Ken Green, beginning at the 1983 Manufacturers Hanover Classic when he was 19. They won four times in three years. LaCava became one of the best-known caddies, winning 12 times, including the 1992 Masters, with Fred Couples. The elder LaCava spent a short stint with Dustin Johnson before joining Tiger Woods in 2011 and was on the bag when Woods won the 2019 Masters. After Woods suffered injuries in a car crash and reduced his schedule, LaCava moved to the bag of Patrick Cantlay fulltime.
LaCava Jr. has worked alongside his father at the PNC Championship, caddying for Charlie in the two-person team event. That sparked Joe Jr.'s interest in the profession and he spent a summer working at famed Winged Foot for a summer.
And eventually he followed his father into the family business.
'He's been great. I think it's been a pretty smooth transition into having him work for me,' Highsmith said. 'We were good buddies a couple years ago on the Korn Ferry Tour, and we stayed in houses together at a couple different tournaments and just became friends, and he was working for one of my buddies at the time. The timing kind of worked out well last year. I think their Korn Ferry season was coming to an end and he reached out to see if I needed anybody for the fall.
'I had had a really bad year throughout the regular season, and I was like, why not?'
Together, Highsmith turned his season around with two top-10 finishes and five top-25s in six starts during the fall to retain his playing privileges this season.
'He's really good at what he does, but he's also just one of the boys, and we have a pretty good time out there, and he just keeps it light and everything,' Highsmith said.
'I think that was good today, obviously, with high pressure out there, being able to have him kind of keeping me relaxed and whatever. It feels like you're just out there walking with one of your friends, and that part has been great, but then also staying focused on the process and whatnot, he's been great. Yeah, so he's been awesome.'
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