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Tiger Woods’ caddie has revealed that he paid a heckler $25 leave the former world No.1 alone during the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational two weeks ago. 

Speaking to ESPN’s ‘Golic and Wingo’ show, Joe LaCava revealed how he reimbursed a fan the price of his admission in order to get him to leave Woods alone during the final round of the World Golf Championship at Firestone Country Club in Ohio.

LaCava explained that the person in question had repeatedly heckled Woods during the round. Finally, on the 14th, LaCava decided he had heard enough.

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“So he calls me a couple of names, and I go back and forth with the guy. And I said, ‘Why don’t you just leave?’” he explained. “And he goes, ‘Well, if you give me $25 for the ticket that I bought today, I’ll leave.’ And I said, ‘Here you go, here’s $25.’”

Joe La Cava And Heckler

A fan photo has since surfaced of LaCava – Woods’ caddie since 2011 – purportedly handing over cash to make the guy leave, which he did… but only after running his mouth off some more.

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“I said, ‘Look, pal, $25 is $25. You’ve got to head the other way,’” he added. “So he starts to head the other way, goes 20 yards down the line, and he calls me a certain other swear word. So I run 20 yards back the other way. We’re going face-to-face with this guy an,d all of a sudden, Tiger is looking for a yardage and I’m in it with this guy 20 yards down the line.”

Fortunately, at this point, an on-course police officer stepped in and had the fan ejected.

As for Woods? According to LaCava, he was unaffected by the whole episode.

“He didn’t have a problem,” added LaCava. Woods went on to finish the tournament in a tie for 31st.


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Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

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