Tiger Woods picks new caddie for PGA Tour season debut at Genesis Invitational

Tiger Woods will have a new caddie when he makes his PGA Tour season debut at the Genesis Invitational. The 15-time major champion has reportedly selected Lance Bennett to be on his bag later this week at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.

Bennett is a veteran of the PGA Tour. He previously caddied for Matt Kuchar, including when Kuchar won The Players in 2012. Bennett has also caddied for two-time Tour winner Sungjae Im, Davis Riley, and LPGA Tour stalwarts Juli Inkster, Lorena Ochoa, and Paula Creamer.

Most recently, Bennett has been caddying for Adrien Dumont de Chassart, one of the more impressive rookies on the PGA Tour. With Bennett’s guidance, the 23-year-old Belgian won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2023 and was named KFT Player of the Year. De Chassart, who is repped by the same agency at Woods, per GolfWeek, is not in the Genesis field.

Bennett might caddy for Tiger at Sawgrass and Augusta, though Woods is considering mixing up his caddies, per GW. Tiger’s business partner, Rob McNamara, carried his clubs at the Hero World Challenge in December. At that event, Tiger didn’t rule out the idea of his son, Charlie, caddying for him at some point.

Tiger won his first major, the 1997 Masters, with assistance from the legendary Mike “Fluff” Cowan. Woods won 13 majors with Steve Williams from 1999-2011.

Joe LaCava, who caddied for Tiger for 12 years, began working full-time with current World No. 7 Patrick Cantlay last May after Woods underwent season-ending ankle surgery.

Woods, 48, is hoping to play about one tournament per month in 2024. The Genesis will mark his first official PGA Tour start since withdrawing from The Masters. Woods shot a 1-under at Riviera in 2023, finishing T45.

In addition to a caddie, Tiger is expected to debut a clothing brand, Sunday Red, in association with TaylorMade, at the Genesis. It’ll be the first professional golf tournament in which Woods isn’t wearing Nike.