Golf With Jay Delsing - - Joe LaCava

Jay Delsing spent 25 years on the PGA Tour and is a lifetime member of the PGA Tour and PGA of America. Now he provides his unique perspective as a golfer and network broadcaster. It's time to go On The Range with Jay Delsing.

On The Range is brought to you by Pro-Am Golf. Good morning, everyone. This is Golf with Jay Delsing. I am your host, Jay, and I've got Perley, John Perlis, with me. Good morning, Perley. Good morning, good morning. Ready to roll. Well, we formatted the show like a round of golf.

The first segment is called On The Range, and it's brought to you by Pro-Am Golf. Check out our social media outlets. You can find us. Twitter is at JayDelsing, Facebook is Golf with Jay Delsing, and Jay Delsing Golf.

LinkedIn is JayDelsing, and Instagram is, yeah, go find it. All right, we want to thank our friends at Donahue Printing and Refinishing. These guys are friends of the show. They do great stuff for your home. You need some painting. They specialize in staircases.

Man, you got to check them out at DonahuePainting.com. Okay, so, Perl, it's hard. Everything in the whole world is coronavirus, all right? So, I thought we'd just mention it and then move on. So, you want to say it once?

No, you just did. We mentioned it. It's super important. Respectfully, it's super important, but we all heard a bunch about it, and let's have some fun talking about golf. Yeah, so, absolutely. Want to mention just briefly all of the schedule ups and downs.

I mean, it's impossible to not. You know, the PGA Championship has now been postponed. There's talk about maybe a Masters happening in October.

That'd be fun. It would really be fun, but one of the things that makes the U.S. Open so interesting is that- So, has that been canceled, or is that on the edge? Where does that stand now?

No, I think it is definitely not been canceled. Okay. But what makes that interesting is the qualifiers start really, really soon for that. And, folks, half of the field, right about half of the field, is filled with qualifiers. Yeah, I didn't know that. You said that when we were prepping. I don't know how I didn't know that.

That's interesting as can be. Yeah, it's one of the- Oftentimes, people will say, in terms of competition, the U.S. Open is one of the easier majors to win because there's so many good tour players left out. Yeah, they didn't get in there. And other guys had a good week and got in, and they're not going to be able to compete on a U.S. Open, USGA event at the end of the day. That's right.

That scene, that stage will become way too big for them. But one of the other things that you have to keep in mind, and you've been through this with me on some of these, the two-tier system of qualifying for the U.S. Open, there's a local qualification, which will be coming up very, very soon, where there'll be, oh, probably what, per 100, 120 players for what, four spots? Five spots? Six spots? Something like that. Maybe a few more, but probably right in there.

And then all of those will get pushed into the next sectional stage, and that's where it really makes it, where the numbers really get lousy. That's where I caddied for you at least one time, for sure, out of Fox Run. And remember, how many guys, was there like 80 in that thing or something? For one spot or two spots? One in an alternate or something like that? One spot, I think, yeah.

And we got it. We got in a playoff, and I'd had some surgery earlier in the week, and I'm all bandaged up on my neck. It was about 165 degrees out there, if I remember. It wasn't that cool.

It was way hotter than that. And your wonderful mother walked every step of that 36 holes. Praying her rosary. Well, what else was she out there for, for crying out loud?

Exactly. That got you over the hump because you qualified. That's what she told me. She told you that in many ways. For probably as long as I can remember, Pearl. You have no idea.

That's a whole other show. So the U.S. Open is interesting. I also read an interesting statistic about the Olympics. You know, with golf is now a part of the Olympics and Olympic sport. If the Olympics don't go down in Japan, the country of Japan stands to lose 2% of their GDP.

I mean, what's happening in the world and what's happened in the world over these last little while is just remarkable. Those Olympics are a crazy risk anyway, and there's always so much controversy around them in so many different ways. Certainly the cost. And then now to have this thrown in the mix, it's remarkably, as they say, not that life is fair.

It's unfair. Right. Right.

So that's enough of it. And hopefully all those things, we get past that and we get to enjoy those things. And if we don't, we're all going to survive and be better for it at the end of the day. Yeah, absolutely. And we do know that some good things are going to come out of this. Maybe we don't exactly know what they are now, but they absolutely will.

All right. So the Premier Golf League, I wanted to bring that up to you, got a huge blow a while back when Brooks Koepke and Jon Rahm came out and said, nah. Well, I can remember how many years ago when Greg Norman was trying to, whatever they call that, the world tour.

Yeah, with Rupert Murdoch. And I can remember how controversial that was and people were getting all anxious and stuff. And you know, I really like some of the answers of the guys because they're like, you know, the Masters matters. This rotation matters. Our majors matter.

Our fifth major matters. They like the tradition. And of course, let's remember too, those guys want to play those golf courses because they know those golf courses. They have a huge advantage that they've been playing them for 10, 15 years. They know they can kind of be in there.

So there's some positives, but we're already doing enough world type of play anyways, the way I look at it. And remember this, the PGA Tour is where everyone wants to be. The PGA Tour has treated these players and made their worlds. I mean, they could have been playing in my generation and they could be winning all these tournaments and make, you know, one-fifteenth the money they're making now. So they were throwing apparently major dollars at them, major guarantees and stuff in there.

And you know what, which I also kind of liked what I thought was kind of getting ferreted out here. The guys were like, I don't care. First of all, these guys already have a lot of money. Right. And they want to be part of the legacy of what the history has already laid out. They start something new and all of a sudden it's not compared to what Jack did, to what Arnie did, to what Sam did. It's kind of a new thing. And I just think it loses.

I think it just seems so fake and not exciting to me. Wait a second, though. Whose records are going to mean what is the end of the day?

If you fast forward to, you know, 20 years, let's say this Premier League did catch on for five years. They're going to be asterisks. You know, Tiger's not going to play. You're not going to lure him with money.

He wants 83. I don't think they're that excited when they go down and play in Qatar and in the Middle East and say, hey, it's fun. I'm sure they're enjoying it. They're making some money. But who's going to give up any of the other traditional types of things for that?

And I don't think anybody. You know, I got to give a plug to the St. Louis Junior Invitational at Norwood Hills. It's going to be run this year. Last year was their first year. It's something really, really fun for young ladies and young men, 14 to 18.

It's going to be, they are going to play it in June. And one of the things that's really cool is there's, it's called the Bob Phillips Shining Light Player Scholarship. So any families out there that can't afford the travel, that need help, need some stipends and things like that, it's absolutely fantastic. These guys are going to help you out.

There's players, I think, that have come in from seven or eight different states in the first year already. That's awesome. So, yeah, it's, you can find them at stlgolfjr.com and check them out. It's a cool thing. That sounds awesome. You know, those are few and far between when you and I were juniors, as far as any type of invitationals, different tournaments. And it was so exciting to look forward to them. And this sounds like something. And what a great golf course to be able to come to as a junior. Yeah, absolutely.

Well, that's going to wrap up the On the Range segment. Come back, Pearly and I are going to go to the front nine. And we've got an interview with Tiger Woods' caddy, Joe Lacaba. Not just Tiger's caddy, this is a historic caddy, this guy. He also worked for Fred Couples for 20 years.

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Welcome back, this is Golf with Jay Delsing, I'm your host Jay, I've got Pearly with me and we are going to the front nine. But not before we talk and thank Whitmore Country Club for being our sponsor in their second year of sponsoring the Golf with Jay Delsing show. And if your family is looking for a club to join, you've got to consider Whitmore Country Club. There's 90 holes of golf at Whitmore. You get access to the Missouri Bluffs, the links of Dardeen and the Golf Club of Wentzville and there are no cart fees associated with this membership at all. They've got great facilities for your kids.

Pool, they've got swim teams, they've got a kids club you can drop your children off at night. Bummer, who is the assistant pro of the decade or century, how far back can we go Pearl? Actually, you've got to go in and see our buddy Bummer in the golf shop. And it's the right time of year too because it's the time to get out there and it's the time to join a place like that because you get the whole season under your belt.

Yeah, absolutely. He is fantastic and that staff out there is terrific. They run skins games, husband-wife tournaments, women's events, anything you can imagine. They've got it at Whitmore Country Club.

You can call them at 636-926-9622. Alright, we've got Joe LaCava, folks. Joe is super caddie. Caddied from Fred Couples for 20 plus years, won the Masters with Fred Couples and now he caddies for one Tiger Woods. Let's go to that interview. You're up in Connecticut and as we're speaking, my favorite golfer, and I know yours is just not feeling very good, give us a little bit of update on how Tiger is doing.

You know, he calls it the new norm. He's going to have good days and bad days, probably good weeks and bad weeks going forward. You know, I kind of lived it with Fred Couples through his back, pains and aches. It's just one of those things where sometimes, like you said, you feel pretty decent, you wake up, you feel pretty good, you're swinging pretty good at it. And other days, you wake up, you're a little stiff, a little sore, you know, maybe have some inflammation, you just can't get through the ball and you have a tough time swinging and practicing. So right now, he's kind of in one of those spots where he's not feeling 100%. And, you know, I think he just wants to be cautious and careful going forward and doesn't want to make things worse.

I don't think it's really bad, but I don't think it's great either. I would say kind of middle of the road right now and he's just trying to work through things. Joe, let's take a walk back a little bit. Man, we've known each other for over 30 years.

Let's talk about life on the PGA Tour back in the 80s when we first met. Man, what a difference. Yeah, no, from a caddy perspective, it's crazy. I mean, you know, for us, things have gotten so much better and so much more positive in a lot of ways.

And same for you guys as well. You know, forget the fact that we're making better money as caddies and so on and so forth, which is obviously terrific. But, you know, the way of life is better. You know, you can afford now to have one roommate instead of three or four. You can afford to fly places instead of having to drive everywhere. The accommodations at the golf course are nicer. You know, they've got nice food for us.

They've got indoor places with TVs and air conditioning in the summer and, you know, maybe even eating like a pebbled beef and places like that. So things have gotten a lot better for us in those 25, 30 years that I've been out there. And I think the tour brass with the new regime with Jay Monahan and so on and so forth, they are really looking out for us as well. And, you know, they feel like we're a big part of the show out there and they're treating us very, very nicely, very well at the BGA Tour these days.

So it's very nice. It's come a long ways from the days, like you said, back in the 80s when it was, you know, wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't like it is today. Well, Joe, I mean, back in the 80s, guys were driving to every event and guys were, you know, sleeping four and five in a hotel room.

And, you know, there wasn't we weren't playing for any money. One of the things that I so admire about you is that, you know, you and Megan have been married for a long time, have two kids. And you you've seen it all ups and downs. You know, great point without a doubt. I mean, back in the day when you first started, I would say maybe 10 percent of the guys had families.

I don't know what the numbers are now, but I'm guessing it's certainly more probably more than half of that now, because like you said, you made a good point. You can afford still do this job now and have a family. Whereas back in the day in the late 80s, you know, you can make a living and survive, obviously. And obviously the top dogs were making an OK living and could could do well and survive. But if you weren't working for a guy in the top 10 or 15, like I said, you were making a living and surviving. But I don't think you were making enough to support a family or certainly not support a family with kids. Nowadays, the tour, you know, retired come along.

The first is going up. You know, he's allowed us to make a great living and to also have a family while we do this on the road. So that in that respect, it's tremendous for guys like me that do have kids and family. So, Joe, take us back to who was the first bag that you had on the PGA Tour? What was that like? My first bag was Ken Green tournament champions, 1987. That was my first full time gig and had a great run with Ken. We had three years together. He and I'm winning, I think, three of three events on the tour, actually back to back in 88.

And then he won another one in 89 and won a big tournament in Japan. So it was a great three year run for him and for us together. And he always gave me my start and kind of, you know, I learned the ropes through him and always be grateful for that start for sure.

I always had a soft spot for Green. I remember coming to, I think, Danbury. And he had an event there. We raised some money for a local charity.

That's the first time that I ever got to hang out with you a little bit. And, man, people don't realize what a good player Ken Green was back in the day, Ryder Cup player. And he was absolutely, he was a little crazy, but absolutely fearless. Very fearless. You know, very, very good player.

Great short game. And like you mentioned, 1988, he actually won twice that year, which, you know, back then that was a big deal. I mean, guys do it kind of regularly now. But back then, if you won two or three times, you were pretty close to winning the money list and player of the year kind of thing. He won back to back events for two wins and he actually lost two others in playoffs. So it could have been, you know, it could have been an incredible year, like I said, especially for back then when guys didn't win more than two or three times in one year. And, yes, fearless, I would say, was a great adjective for Ken Green.

You know, he won, you know, I'm not showing anyone, I think he won five times in his career. But if he was ever up there, you knew he was going to, you know, give it his all to close the deal and get everything he had. He was not going to back down from anyone. No, he only knew the gas.

He did not know where the break was. Exactly. Good point.

Exactly. So, Joe, so talk about how you got hooked up with Fred and what a great run you had with Fred. Yeah, no, I mean, I love him like a brother over 20 years together. At the end of 89, Ken decided to bring his brother out who was out of work at the time. And his brother was a little bit older than me and had a wife and a couple of kids. So I respected the heck out of that fact that he wanted to take care of his brother.

So we split. But, you know, Ken didn't figure this out until Disney tournament, which was the last term of the year. And back then, this is 1989. And so when he told me that week, I was always bummed for sure and frustrated. And so the first name that popped into my mind was Fred Couples, because knowing earlier that year, Fred and his caddy had split. And Fred was trying different guys throughout the rest of that season, the second half of 89 in the hopes of hiring someone full time for the following year. Now, obviously, I didn't get that chance because I was working for Penn at the time. Everything was going very well. But I approached Fred regardless.

I can't remember which day it was earlier in the week. And I mentioned to him that I was looking for work for the following year, starting in 1990. And he gave me the old token, give me a call over the winter kind of thing. And so I had his number and I called him. I want to say maybe Thanksgiving time and left a message in here back. Then I called him again mid-December, nothing back.

And then finally I called him around Christmas time and I said, look, you don't have to feel bad about telling me no on any part of me or hired someone. I just kind of got to figure out where I'm going with this. I haven't really pursued anything else. And obviously this is back in 1989. So there's no texting. There's not even any cell phones.

So you can't get a hold of guys in the off-season. Did we even have email then, Joe? I don't even think there was email back there. There was. I didn't have it.

I still don't own a computer. That's fantastic. So anyways, he finally gave me a call back, which was great. And he gave me a four-week shot. He said, all right, let's do the West Coast. I play four events and, you know, fortunate enough for me, those are some of his favorite events he played. He started the Bob Hope where he actually lives and was familiar with the golf courses. And he played Phoenix, San Diego and L.A. And I think I think he had three top tens. I know he had a win, but he had three top tens and he won L.A., which I didn't know at the time was one of his favorite golf courses of all time. He shot 62 on that Saturday and went on to win the tournament. This is 1990. So, you know, four great tournaments, which certainly had nothing to do with me working for him.

It's just the fact that he was a heck of a player and those were some of his favorite events. And to this day, I'm not sure he ever officially told me I was hired. He I remember he just wrote me a check and said, I'll see you in Miami. So I didn't ask any questions. I figured I've got the job.

I don't know. At least I got through Miami. And then that lasted 21 years, crazy enough. And like I said, we we became extremely good friends. I went to his wedding, I went to his 40th surprise birthday party. He was kind enough to come up to Connecticut for my for my wedding. So great with my family, my kids, an incredible 21 years.

We won a lot of tournaments, contended a lot, made a lot of cuts. But more importantly, we got along great. And he treated me, you know, like family almost versus, you know, like I'm his employee in Caddy.

It was terrific. Well, Joe, not all those relationships go like that, as we know. And that's that says a lot to you. The other thing that I want to talk about is what what give our listeners some sort of special story or some sort of something that just you'll never forget about working for Fred. Because I've just the level of golf that you've seen is remarkable. Yeah, no, I mean, I think what people always say to me is, is he great guys, he seems on TV seems so cool and not flustered this, that and the other thing. You know, the thing for me that always sticks out in the back of my mind is how well and how nice he treated my kids when he'd come through. Like when the playoffs first started, we play the first leg, which was in New York, and they go up to Boston, which was until Friday starts.

We had a couple days to kill. And he'd come up here and he'd hang out with the kids play catch with the kids, you know, hit balls with the kids baseball and softball they were into at the time. Maybe we go to the local golf course and he would have two or three groups and he'd yuck it up and hang out with all my guys playing golf, you know, he doesn't, he doesn't ever come across as, you know, an icon or superstar in a sport, he was just one of the guys, and everyone loves that about him. You know, just, just like I said, regular guy, no ears about him, even though he's, you know, he's a master champion in the Hall of Fame golfer and so on and so forth. So that to me was that to me, you know, I always speak highly of him for those reasons, and he still texts my kids and my wife to this day on a regular basis and he's just one of those guys. It's just a great, great guy. And I think, you know, people, people realize that but I think if they see could see the other side of how he is with kids and people how he interacts with people, it's just terrific. Yeah, that is that is an awesome thing to know so Joe, tell us about you're on the bag for the 92 masters.

Right. How in the hell did his ball stay up on number 12 when he hit a short right of the grid. You know, heck of a question.

I think I tell people it is it's a great question. I think I tell people the same thing I said, no Fred very really miss hit shots, and, you know, he stuck this one in the ground a little bit for him which I mean isn't much of a miss it because he hits it so darn solid. I think the bigger break or not miracle but the bigger break was the fact that on that line it carried as far as it did because like I said he didn't hit it very well and kind of stuck in the ground and as you know when you stick in the ground, you know, a little high rise to the right that doesn't travel very far. So the fact that it carried the water I thought was just as big a deal as the fact that didn't roll back into, into the creek, I guess the story goes we had some storms there Saturday afternoon and we actually finished Saturday's run on Sunday morning. And they got a pretty good storm on Saturday afternoon so obviously the bank was kind of wet and muddy, and I think the fact that the ball hit hit soft was part of it. I also heard after the fact that, you know, as legend goes, I don't know this for a fact or not I heard they were out there trying to mold the bank on Sunday morning before the fourth round and I guess it was so slippery that they called the guys off calling the bank, because they didn't want anybody to get hurt or injured. And maybe that had something to do with it but I think it was just more of a softness and I think you know good guys deserve a break here and there and I think that was it more than anything, Fred the heck of a good guy and he deserved a break and got a break there. And then, you know, on Tuesday or Monday, that ship is very routine. Not so much on Sunday afternoon but the fact that he hit it up there about 8-10 inches was awesome too.

People don't realize he did that as well. That's going to wrap up the front nine. But come back we've got more of that and you'll hear it on the back nine. It's Golf with Jay Delsing. Are you in the market for some new clubs?

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USA Mortgage has closed over $500 million in loans in nearly 30 years in the business and over $2 million alone to Delsings. Everyone is looking for the extra edge and Jay Delsing is digging deep to find it. It's the Leading Edge on golf with Jay Delsing. With me this morning is Dr. Eric Nipudi. Doc, tell our listeners a little bit about the Nipudi Wellness Centers here in St. Louis. Well, like you said, I'm, you know, Dr. Eric Nipudi, we created the Nipudi Wellness Centers years ago and Jay, I'll tell you, we created out of frustration and this is what the frustration we had.

You know, I'm an ex-athlete, I played football, baseball, you know, basketball guy, played all these stuff in high school, played football in college and I just loved helping people and loved helping athletes. But our Nipudi Wellness Center started out, honestly, as a regular doctor's office. It started out, you know, you come in, you've got a symptom, we treat your symptom and that's what we do.

And Jay, I just got tired of not seeing people get to the level of success that I knew that they could get to. So we started adding technologies and techniques and new awarenesses and studying new things in addition to what I learned in my healthcare training. And now we've got a one-stop shop where we've created a place where we've got chiropractors, physical therapists, nurse practitioners, medical doctors, nutritionalists, psychiatrists, cardiologists, all under one roof to look at you as a whole. Instead of just looking at your shoulder, your back, your heart, your stomach, you're looking at you as a whole person. And what we found is this approach now, we've been doing it now over almost 15 years, this approach, we're getting amazing results with almost anything that comes in the door. Our forte is neuromuscular skeletal issues, which is, you know, a lot of your listeners, right?

Golfers, weekend warriors, basketball players, softball guys, we're amazing at helping people get the edge in performance and achieving peak performance. But since we have all these different providers, we're also a primary care provider place where we can help folks with, you know, why the cause they have heartburn? Why do they have high blood pressure? Why do they have high cholesterol?

Why do they have pain? Once we started asking the questions, why, and then started digging into this and doing our own research, we've been able to help people with those problems, help them get off medications and help them live a happier, healthier quality life. So that's what we do at the Nacuti Wellness Center. We're cause-based care, not just treating the symptoms. And Doc, I love the fact that you're trying to get people off the meds. Well, I mean, listen, here's what I'll tell you, Jay, is I can't tell you anybody that I've spoken to over the last 15 years of saying, hey, you know, I'm really happy taking all these drugs.

I like being all this. People know, people know that better health does not come from more drugs. Now, let me be clear with this. There are some people that need to be on medications. There are some people that are going to be on medications for the rest of their life, but there are some people that are on, let's say, 5, 6, 8, or 10 medications, and we can help them by getting healthier, changing their diet, change their lifestyle, change the way they think, the way they move, the way they breathe, all these things, and we can help them get off some of their medications because they become healthier.

People know that drugs don't help you improve your health, but they can help you reduce your symptoms. So we love that approach, and so does our community. I'm a patient down at the Neputi Wellness Center. Folks, you've got to check Eric Neputi out.

You've got to shake this guy's hand when it's appropriate, and you've got to visit him. Doc, tell us how we can get a hold of you. Well, you guys can find us online at neputiewellness.com. That's N-E-P-U-T-E wellness.com. You give us a call at 314-544-5600, and I would encourage everyone to follow us on Facebook. We've got some great free information on my page at Eric Neputi. That's N-E-P-U-T-E. And you can also go to Common Sense Health on Facebook, Common Sense Health. Go there, like us.

You'll have tons of information there. Dr. Eric Neputi. The 100,000-watt monk torch for St. Louis sports, driven by AutoCenters Nissan, home of the 30-day return. WXOX and WXOS HD1, East St. Louis, 101 ESPN. I'd like to thank Whitmore Country Club for sponsoring my show Golf with Jay Delsing on 101 ESPN. Whitmore has been a great partner as I enter my second year. If you are considering a great place for your family to hang out, you've got to go over to Whitmore Country Club. Go in the golf shop.

See my friend Bummer. He'll tell you all you need to know about the kids club, the golf, the tennis. They've got swim teams and leagues. There's anything you and your family could want at Whitmore Country Club. Visit them at whitmoregolf.com.

We're halfway there. It's time for the Back Nine on Golf with Jay Delsing. The Back Nine is brought to you by St. Louis Bank.

Welcome back. It's Golf with Jay Delsing. Jay and John are here and let's just jump right back into the Joe LaCava interview.

And for you folks that don't know who Joe LaCava is, he's currently the caddy for Tiger Woods and worked for over 20 years for Fred Couples. So Joe, what is it about this game where when we get a good break, we almost feel guilty about it, you know, because I remember everyone asking Fred about that. I wanted to ask you about it, but how many times have we got bad breaks and just kind of shake it off as part of the game and a good one comes along. We don't even know how to handle it. Right. No, you're absolutely right. People, you know, we just did. We just referred to that fact.

I tell people the same thing. I said, well, I said he did go on to win the tournament by two shots. It wasn't like he chopped it around. And that's, you know, that's not the reason he won the golf tournament. He played, you know, 71 pretty good holes last I checked besides that.

And how about the puckery shot he hit on 18, so on and so forth on the last day. So I always look at it the same way. Like, you know, people always want to say, oh, what a, you know, what a crazy break. Or you got so lucky to stand the other thing.

Yeah, sure. It was fortunate. You always get some good breaks along the way when you win. But like you said, are plenty bad breaks to, you know, early in the week.

So I have, I feel like they even out throughout the week. So like you said, people always want to point to that. But like, you know, he played phenomenal that week. You know, he was the favorite going in. He's already won twice.

So he was, you know, the guy to beat. And that's not always an easy thing to be the guy in position that's supposed to win the highest golf or so on and so forth. But, you know, to Fred's credit, he stepped up and kept playing some good golf and got it done. He loves that place down there, doesn't he? He does.

It's amazing. I mean, regardless of his age or his condition, he always seems to find a way, you know, last year, you know, we play a couple practice runs with him every year. You know, he loves Tiger and we have a good time because I don't know if I can do it much more Joey system. He goes, I'm hitting Woods into half these par fours, which he really is.

But he's kind of dinking around on Tuesday, Wednesday and he gets a little hyped up on Thursday. Now all of a sudden he's hitting four or five irons in there. Yeah, he's not hitting seven, eight irons like the other guys are, but he finds a way. I mean, you know, making the cut at 59, 60, whatever he is, is I think is a great accomplishment. And I hope he continues to keep playing there, but I don't know whether he will or not. Yeah, I do too. I know his schedule is cut back, you know, a tremendous amount, but I love just even on the champions tour. I feel like it's fun when Fred plays. Well, no doubt.

I mean, and again, it's easy for me to sit there and say, cause he treated me well and I worked with a guy for 21 years, but it's just, the door is not the same and the guys, I think I'll tell you the same thing. It's not the same Fred's not playing. So I think he does do a lot for that tour as well for sure. All right. So Joe, after you stopped working for Fred, you switched gears and went over to DJ for what? Almost four years, I think. Yeah, well, what happened was, Fred had been trying to get rid of me for years, basically from the time he turned 45 and his back was no good.

He says, you know, you need to move on because I'm not going to fire because I love you, but you know, you got to do something here. And so, you know, I always felt, I mean, I loved working for the guy and he was still competitive in his forties. Yeah.

He doesn't going to win as much or as often, um, kind of in no man's land. So we got through that period and then he turned 50 and we went on the senior tour together and he won four times the first year. And I think on that tour, if you've got a guy that can win four or five times, you can survive and make a living. And I enjoyed it out there. It was fun. We had a good time.

It was, you know, relaxing, but it was still competitive. And so, uh, about a quarter of the way into his second year on the senior tour, um, David Winkle came calling who was the agent for Dustin Johnson. And he said that Dustin and his caddy had split.

He heard Fred was going to take a month off to the back issues. Would you be interested in working a couple of weeks for DJ? And I said, sure, of course I would.

I mean, all sorts of talent seems like a great guy. I didn't really know him that well, but I would love to. So one weekend, you know, DJ was kind enough to offer me the job full time. Um, I took it. Fred understood. Fred was quite happy for me, actually. Um, that was not an easy decision because, you know, like I said, I've never wanted to not work for Fred or hang with Fred, but anyway, it was time to move on. And I did. And then I wasn't four years, Dustin, I started working for Dustin TPC, which I think man was back in may and I worked through the end of the year. So it was only about seven, eight months that I worked for DJ. Oh, okay.

Yeah. So, but I did love my time with him. He won a tournament, he won one of the playoff events, the Barclays, and he almost won the British Open. He played very, very well.

Same thing. You know, kind of like Fred, we were starting to get close and tight, treated my family great when they came out. And then Tiger came calling at the end of that year. And so that's when I, that's when I hooked up with Tiger.

Yeah, that's awesome. So Joe, let's talk a little bit about some of the experiences with Tiger and you had this with Fred as well. You have been so fortunate to be involved in a bunch of Ryder Cups and President's Cups from all sorts of different angles. No, no, like you said, I've worked a lot of those team events, which are, which are the best. I mean, obviously there's nothing better when you're guys winning the Masters, but you know, when you get through the, through the regular season and get to the end of the year, you're always looking forward to, you know, as, as Americans, we're fortunate because there's one every year that you get a chance to play. And so I've been a part of a lot of them both, you know, both working for guys. And then a couple of times I was a so-called caddy captain for Fred, which was a lot of fun as well.

But those are terrific weeks. I mean, you got guys who are now battling against each other all year long and all for years and years and years. Now they're playing together as partners and stuff like that. It just gets your juices flowing. You know, as kids, we all grew up, even though we're all kind of in the golf industry. I think most of the players and the caddies grew up playing at least early on team sports in there. I think there's nothing better than, you know, being involved in a team sport in that situation.

You get the juices flowing, the blood flowing. I mean, the easiest one to go back to, it's the, it's the, it's the earliest one is this past presence couple when Tiger played so well with JT and played well individually. And then obviously that circumstance where he's the captain as well as the player and to come out on top after me behind going on Sunday was a pretty cool feeling and a neat experience for sure. Well, Fred, I just had Paul Tesori on a couple of weeks ago and he caddies for Webb Simpson and he talked about the significance of having someone like you in the caddy room because people don't understand caddies get nervous too. And if your player senses a caddy be nervous, it's not a good thing. Yeah, no, I mean, it's like I said, you know, Jimmy Johnson been around. We had a lot of guys at this past President's Cup and even the Ryder Cup in France with a lot of experience. And, you know, the younger guys will talk to you and ask you certain questions. But, you know, we keep it pretty loose in the locker room. You know, we're hanging out, we're roughing people up, we're having fun and telling some jokes, maybe playing some cards, playing some ping pong, whatever it is, you just try to stay loose. But yet you want to be intense and do all your work and these young kids all work very, very hard and have all this stuff together and all the notes together and they're doing a terrific job for the younger guys that are going to carry it forward. But like I said, at the same time, you try to be relaxed in there and you don't want guys being too amped up or too nervous, player or caddy because you want to stay loose on the golf course and do what you're capable of doing. But it's been great for me to be around some of these younger kids at some of these events.

It's been a lot of fun. Yeah, Joe, it's interesting that Paul talked about what it was like in that room and how important it was for, you know, he felt like he was kind of a middle level in terms of experience with Webb and you and Jimmy were more senior guys. And then there were younger guys that have never been in there before.

It's just like the players, you know, you get rookies, you get veterans, you get kind of middle of the road guys. And everybody in those team events, it's nice, as you mentioned, you're trying to beat everybody's brains in, you know, 51 weeks of the year and then you get to be teammates this one week of the year. You know, for sure. I mean, it's like I said, it's nice, you know, not having to beat Justin Thomas and now we get to watch him make a bunch of birdies for us and win as a team.

So that's great. And I think Paul is being nice. I mean, a lot of guys look up to Paul too because they know he does a great job for Webb and they're a heck of a team together.

So I wouldn't consider him a middle of the road guy. He may not have worked quite as many, but he's worked enough where he knows what's going on, even on the other side when he worked for Vijay back in the day. So he's got plenty of experience and he works awfully hard too, obviously, and so does Webb. They all work hard, obviously. But a lot of the guys look up to Paul. I don't know if they're looking up to me and Jimmy or not, but they just know we've been around the block a few times and, you know, we'll answer whatever questions they got. And like I said, we're out there to have a little bit of fun too at these team events because it can't be that intense.

We can't enjoy it too. So there's a good mix of that too and we all have a good time. Yeah, that's it. So last thing, let's talk a little bit about this last Augusta win. I know it's your second time around the block, but everything you did, you know, waiting for Tiger through the injuries and things like that, Joe. So impressive. I remember running into you at the Ryder Cup up in Hazeltine and I don't think you'd worked for probably two or three years at that point, but you were still waiting because the chance to work for Tiger is so special. Yeah, well, you're being very nice, which I appreciate.

Thank you. You know, I realize people always say you're patient, you hung around, you're loyal, this and the other thing. You know, I kind of look at the other way. I mean, there's only one Tiger Woods and I'm fortunate to have that job right now. So I appreciate what I have. Is it frustrating at times that he can't play as much as he used to or sometimes not as can't plays, you know, the way he's capable of playing due to his back.

Sure. That's very frustrating at times. You know, we're sitting here this week and I'm missing one of my favorite tournaments of all time, the players.

So that can be frustrating at times, but I have nowhere to go. I enjoy every minute working for Tiger. It's been great to me. It's a limited schedule, sure, but at the same time, I know when he's out there, he's going to give it everything he's got. For the most part, he's not going to play unless he's healthy enough to compete and win. But going back to last year's Masters, I mean, it was a terrific week, a terrific moment. I mean, he worked awfully hard. I know he worked harder than people can imagine the week before at home.

You know, more or less by himself, a little bit with Rob as well. He grinded to no end the week before and he got up there, he was healthy, he was fresh. We started the week off Sunday afternoon by going out and just hitting some chips and putts, which was terrific, just to get some short game time in on the golf course, which makes a difference to me.

You can practice your short game all you want at home or at a gust on the range, but there's nothing like being out on the golf course working on your short game. I think that was a nice start to the week. He just had a presence about him. You know, I'm not saying it starting Tuesday, he just kind of felt like he was going to win.

But he had a calmness about him and just, you know, a very confident nature about him where I felt like he knew he was in a good spot. I think he was confident in the fact that, like I just said, he got a lot of good practice in at home. Obviously, it's one of his favorite spots and he knew he was hitting the ball pretty well. It was just a matter of the putts going or not. And believe it or not, looking back, yeah, he made a few 20, 25 footers, but it wasn't like he smoked it with a putter. He just played very consistently all week, didn't make any mistakes hardly, and like I said, just played very well.

T. Green made plus when he needed to make them. Well, Joe, so many times the key is getting yourself in those positions because look what happens. You know, Molinari has trouble coming in. There's just all sorts of things that went your guy's way to win. Yeah, yeah, like you said, I mean, Molinari was playing very well. I thought he played very well. I mean, you know, forget what happened on 15 and, you know, it's going to happen on 12 occasionally.

But he played a pretty good round of golf and he looked like he was going to be the guy to beat through eight or nine holes. And like you said, I think Tiger knows from past, you know, you hang around, you hang around, you don't have to shoot, you know, 31 on the front nine and take the lead. You just got to be patient. You know, buy your time, do, you know, do your own thing. And then, like you said, I mean, sometimes it breaks your way.

Some guys start, you know, going this way or go and stop a little bit. You're showing steady, steady, steady and making partisan couple birdies here and there. And, you know, Tiger, like you said, you hit, you made a good point. Tiger has that experience.

He knows, he doesn't know, but he's, he knows if he can continue those things, chances are he's going to have a good, pretty good chance to win the thing when it's all said and done. Joe, you keep yourself in phenomenal shape. People don't understand how difficult it is to carry a bag at, you know, we're getting up there in age and you're in great shape and it's not easy walking those hills, is it?

No, I mean, you know, first of all, that's, that's quite an overstatement, but that's nice of you. I think, I think, I think what helps me is the fact that we just talked about Tiger doesn't play quite as much as the other guys. And when he's, when he's out on the golf course, it's a limited practice schedule, basically due to his back. So we don't very often play 18 holes. You know, before Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we do on Wednesday, which is a pro in, but let's just use Augusta, for example, Augusta is the hardest week of the year because it's a long week because guys want to get done.

They want to practice in the range of spring. People are always stopping you and talking to you. So the days are longer, not a complaint. That's just a fact. And then it, you know, people don't know out there that never been, they don't realize how early that golf course is. But like you said, back to the, back to everything you just talked about, you know, age, it catches up with you.

I try to keep an okay shape so I can keep cannon because that's basically all I can do. But I think the fact that Tiger doesn't play as much helps my cause for sure. Joe last year you got inducted in the Caddy Hall of Fame. Yeah, quite an honor. Very nice honor. You know, at first I wasn't going to do it because I just felt like, you know, I wasn't worthy per se. And when bones bones was the first guy to contact me and said look, I've done it they want you to be in it, you should do it.

And I was very hesitant so I called him back, and he goes no they asked me that's something you need to do, which I thought was a great recognition and I tell people the same thing, you know, which is an incredible honor but the reason I'm in the Caddy Hall of Fame is because I work for Hall of Fame golfers. It's as simple as that. Yeah, but Joe you're selling yourself way too short it's not that easy to caddy and you have to your disposition it's coming through in this interview. You have to have a certain disposition to get along with these types of personalities. Yeah, well, again, thank you and you're being nice. I mean, yeah, you're right, you do have to get along with the guys. And I think I feel obviously I do. I don't know where it is but we do get along very well and the caddy part, you know, I feel like, you know, I try to work as hard as I can and try to do as much as I can and make sure my, you know, I'm, I'm prepared for the week and so on and so forth and walk the course and do all my stuff. But you know that's my job that's what I'm supposed to do so it's not like I'm going above and beyond but I always feel like I'm prepared and, and, you know, I get along. It's easy to get along with guys that are good guys and, you know, easy to get along with kind of thing, you know what I mean. Yeah, absolutely.

Well, just, just one last thing. Is there anything in all the years you caddy in, and I know this is like choosing your favorite kid, but is there anything that sticks out in your mind that when you're going to sit back and tell your grandkids, some of the first stories you're going to tell them is going to be this one. You know the fact that Tiger one. The Masters, after whatever the stretch was of him not playing much and 10 11 years between majors and all the injuries and all events grow and the fact that his kids were there. That was a very special moment for me because I have two kids that can appreciate where he's coming from. And I know how much it meant to him to have his kids there and see it because basically, you know, at 10 and 12 years old, they haven't seen a lot of it, even go back to 12 and 13, when he was player of the year and when eight times over those two years the kids were very very young, and I don't think they were, you know, watching any golf back then.

And so I think, I'm not sure I think Charlie had been the one and act when when when Tiger one but I don't think Sam had been on the grounds for any of Tiger's wins so that's me will always be a special moment being a family guy and a kid guy the fact that they were there in the back meeting screen when their old man one was 15 major and his fifth green jacket pretty special moment. All right, that's going to wrap up the back nine. We're headed to the 19th hole.

After these messages. Come back it's changed on and golf with Jay dulcie 100,000 block blowtorch for St. Louis sports driven by auto centers Nissan home of the 30 day return w x o x and w x o s HD one, the St. Louis one on one ESPN for the last 48 years program golf has been providing outstanding customer service to the greater St. Louis area for all of our golf needs from top of the line equipment to full service club repaired lessons and instructions, they now have their own retail outlet, as well as state of the art computers, cameras, and things to customize all of your personal club fitting needs program golf carries all the major brands. They also have the latest fashion trends from Puma golf, whatever your needs program golf will meet them and have the best customer service in the industry. Call us at 314-781-7775 or find us at pro m golf usa.com. This is Dan McLaughlin TV voice of the Cardinals St. Louis is one of the best sports cities in the country. We also have a tremendous history of supporting professional golf. We're excited to bring golf back to St. Louis with the inaugural Ascension charity classic September 28 through October 4 at Norwood Hills Country Club.

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The 19th hole is brought to you by sniper brand golf. Welcome back to golf with Jay delsing. I'm your host Jay I've got john pearless early May with me here and what do you think of that look I've interview. First of all, I was so pumped up when you even told me you're going to get an interview.

I thought the interview was absolutely fantastic I think for me, you could have gone another hour with with asking questions and stuff, I'm pumped I'm pumped to talk about it. You know he's a really real what what what struck me is how humble he is, you know, and, and I kept talking to him about you know the Caddy Hall of Fame. The all of these things he's like I didn't even want to go in, you know, I didn't want to say anything I didn't feel like it was me I had great players, but it's really, you know what, it's really not the case.

I mean, there, there's other than you there's tremendous value for caddies out there. I knew that was coming. So you know when I work with companies, one of the things we work on is having a values for them to live by, and I wrote down from Joe from that interview calm, sincere, humble and experienced. I mean, that right there is kind of says to me this is what the perfect caddy makeup is just the way he handled that he's working for major egos I'm not saying these guys aren't good guys, but there's major egos out there. I absolutely knew how to handle it but I also love that he talked about that he ended up being friends with these people sincere friends, intermingling you know with their family the kids getting together. That speaks a lot to that, and that he absolutely played his role.

And yeah, he just happened to have three of the best players in the last 30 years on the tour Yeah, it doesn't, you know, you'll get that lucky he did a lot of the right things. Yeah, and Joe 65 years old keeps himself in really good shape Yeah, and you know what he's, he's raised a family. He's got, you know, two kids and raise the family you know, look, back in the day, you could have a guy who was really a good player and still not make a whole hell of a lot of money. So what's he making, what's he making a year with with the tiger because I appreciate that he's waiting for tiger tiger, but I don't think he's, I think he's getting paid while he's waiting for tiger to get back out. Okay, so I'm going to tell you what I don't know specifically heard a lot of different things, but I've heard that tiger is. Yes, but he can't sit there for two years waiting for tiger go play and not get paid anything. No, no, no, I'm sure.

I'm sure they have an arrangement worked out but with the landscape. Now, I mean, tiger hasn't played in how long. Yeah, I mean, and so that means, you know, in in tiger, I think Joe said in the interview tiger was always encouraging Joe to, you know, get another bag go work for somebody else, you know, what until I can come back and, and I was like, nope, I'm your man, and I'm gonna stick it out and wait for you.

So what is he making? He's making a minimum of $2,500 a week that he carries a minimum. Now, does tiger pay for all of his travel and everything? I would have to think yes. And then I'm thinking the tiger probably hits him with 10% of everything he wins of everything of every side makes some sense.

Yeah, so that's what I'm guessing. So then, so Joe, Joe's doing fine. Yeah, well, I mean, well, we could probably pull it up so far this year, he might not feel like he's doing so fine. You know, he's tigers played what twice.

He played today and he played San Diego this year. Yeah, right, right. But I'm placing a bet that there's an understanding here and you're going to make X for sure about a bottom line.

I'm not sure it has to be the appropriate amount. The guy's the best caddy there is. Tiger's flush, so they're going to do the right thing. I think it's just kind of cool. The whole piece was kind of cool. I liked when he talked about, you know, for me, how hard caddying is, how much it's changed through the years, how much better they're getting treated at different facilities. I learned a little bit about that, you know, along the way, some of the things.

Normally, I just use that brother badge you gave me, so I was having lunch with you next to the players. But some of the guys didn't like that too much, but I thought that was okay. Yeah, you got better food and, you know, you got your shoes shined and didn't know why you were eating and stuff. You know, I think what stuck out in my mind too, and we're going to have a lot more caddies on the show here as we move forward because I think it's so interesting. The conditions, the fact that the players are making so much more, that the caddies are making so much more, they're being better cared for. Now, they're working on health insurance and things like that for the catch.

All these things, long overdue. AJ, I can remember when I was first out there with you a couple times. We'd walk through that parking lot, you know, and you would change caddies and stuff, and sometimes you didn't plan as many events as you wanted. So normally you'd have two, three, four caddies walking up to you, and they'd see me carrying the bag and they knew I wasn't a regular out there.

Some of the guys didn't appreciate some of that kind of stuff. But the caddies in general have stepped their game up big time to be able to even approach these players nowadays. They can't play the same game they did once upon a time. These guys have to have their act together.

Right, and there's no doubt. And you know what, John, when we were playing in my years, there was not any sort of prerequisite to know one damn thing about golf. And I'm not saying that a lot of them do, but there are guys, and we mentioned this with, I think, Mark Long last year when Mark was on the show and talking about caddying. There's guys that have had certain tour cards that are caddying now.

Really, really good all-American players in college, very much so. So by the way, I think you could really see, or I felt I could, the calmness of Joe and how he would fit with Freddie for so long. Because between the two of them, I wonder how many times they had to tap and say, guys, wake up, it's your turn to hit.

Those guys are just, there's not much of a heartbeat between those two guys that are so damn calm. Right, and I wanted to, you know, when Fred plays, he's irritable. It doesn't look like it, but he's irritable. He'd be like, why am I here, Joe?

My back hurts. You know, and as a player, you would, and I wanted to go into that a little bit with Joe, and we talked at the beginning, and then I decided to kind of stay away from it because, you know, that's not kind of what we're about. But I saw it as a player without question, and I just sent a text message to Brett Quigley, who won on the Champions Tour early in the year.

He got paired in the last group with Fred when he had the lead down in Tucson, I think. And I said, how hard was it to play with Fred? And he goes, man, nobody ever talks about that. It's just hard. Fred kind of moans a lot. You're like, oh, you know, and then you turn around and he shoots 66 and you shoot 70 and you're like, hmm.

Yeah, it's just kind of low-key. One series of questions I encourage you in the future to ask caddies, what's the best thing you ever said to the player? What's the worst thing you ever said to the player? I would love to hear what comes of that. Well, that's going to do it for the 19th hole and for another show.

We've got another show in the books. Pearl, thanks for joining me today. Meat, thank you for keeping us together, keeping all these frogs in the wheelbarrow for us. We really appreciate it. Come back next week. We will be here with Golf with Jay Delsing.

Hit them straight, St. Louis. That was Golf with Jay Delsing brought to you by Whitmore Country Club. Tune in next Sunday for more from Jay John and the other pros and experts from the golf world. In the meantime, you can find all of Jay's shows at 101 ESPN dot com, as well as at Jay Delsing Golf dot com.