The very essence of who Joe LaCava is can be captured in the 15 frenetic seconds of Tiger Woods’ celebration that immediately followed his fifth career Masters victory in April.

Look at the TV clip: There’s no immediate sign of LaCava in the frame while Woods wildly releases 11 years of frustration without a major championship victory with a series of emotional fist pumps and arms and putter thrust toward the sky.

When LaCava finally enters the frame, with Woods seeking out an embrace with him, Woods jubilantly screams to his caddie, “We did it.’’

“No,’’ LaCava responded to Woods. “You did it.’’

This is who LaCava is to his core. He’s a background guy, not a “me’’ guy. Woods’ former caddie, Steve Williams, who authored some of the most awkward misjudged high fives in sports history, always celebrated Woods’ victories as if he was the one who had been making the shots. There always was an air of self-importance about Williams.

LaCava is about everything but self-importance.

“I didn’t put in all the hard work, I didn’t have all the surgeries, I wasn’t down in Florida grinding,’’ LaCava was quick to say after Woods’ Masters win last month. “So, for me, it’s easy. I just show up, try to do a halfway decent job and he has to do all the tough work.”

That’s not entirely true. It was LaCava who texted Woods days before they were to meet at Augusta to practice before the tournament began. He implored Woods to get to the course early Sunday to walk the holes with only a wedge and a putter to work on his short game, because that’s what LaCava felt needed some last-minute work.

Woods would later credit LaCava for his prescience, citing how much his short game helped him win a fifth green jacket.

It was also LaCava calming down and pumping up Woods with some powerful words on the first tee of the final round. “Intense but loose,’’ LaCava told him. “Don’t carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.’’

Then it was LaCava giving Woods a stern talking to after a second consecutive bogey on the fifth hole, a message that helped turn Woods’ round around.

“The talk that Joey and I had off of 5 — I just listened,’’ Woods recalled. “Then I went into the restroom and proceeded to say the same things over and over to myself, and then came out and I felt a lot better.”

LaCava is so much more than a “keep-up-and-shut-up’’ caddie toting Woods’ bag around the golf course. He’s an integral, trusted part of Woods’ success and he’s become a close friend, too.

LaCava is a 55-year-old lifer in golf whose fierce loyalties are unbreakable, whether it’s his rooting interest in the Giants and Rangers or his work with Woods.

LaCava, who wore a Saquon Barkley T-shirt under his white caddie overalls during the final round at Augusta National last month, could have left Woods to work for another player at any time during the two years Woods was effectively sidelined with back surgeries.

Woods, in fact, encouraged LaCava to do so.

“He was suggesting to me — at least giving me the option — to go work for someone else,’’ LaCava said. “He knows that I like to work and want to work, he knows how competitive I am and how much I do enjoy caddying. He also said, ‘If you latch onto somebody full-time and you guys are hitting it off and doing very well together, I’ve got no problem if you go off riding into the sunset with that guy, and I hope it works out for you.’ ’’

LaCava never considered it, choosing to ride it out until Woods would become healthy enough to compete again — despite how dire it looked at times.

LaCava called Woods’ loyalty to him “the same as I’ve been to him, if not more.’’

“He looked after me financially when he was out,’’ LaCava said. “He’d send me some nice texts to check on me and my family when he was not playing for a long time. He also expressed, ‘If you don’t move on [to another player], terrific, I want to have you and I hope you stick around. I want you as my caddie when I do come back.’ That meant a lot to me when I was sitting out.’’

The wait for LaCava has been well worth it. Woods’ win at Augusta was a second career major championship for LaCava, who was on Fred Couples’ bag when he won the Masters in 1992.

Perhaps the most emotional moment for LaCava and Woods came while they were in the scorer’s room minutes after the win.

“We just kind of looked at each other and soaked it all in,” LaCava recalled. “We just took a deep breath. Nothing was really said. We got to share the moment and smile at each other. It was such an achievement, a proud moment more than anything. Nothing needed to be said because we could read each other’s minds.”

LaCava said Woods later sent him a text message that read: “We did it, appreciate you hanging in there with me, I love you like a brother.’’

The byproducts of the Woods victory have been plentiful, including countless text messages from the likes of Chris Mara from the Giants, former Giants tight end Mark Bavaro and former Rangers Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis, with whom LaCava is close.

“These are guys that I was watching on TV and respect the heck out of and now they’re reaching out to me because they love golf,’’ LaCava said.

Then came a visit to the White House last week while Woods was being given a Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Trump. LaCava and his wife, Megan, were invited by Woods to be a part of his small gathering of those closest to him.

“I wasn’t surprised [to be invited], but certainly appreciative of the fact that my name was on the list and the list was somewhat small, and to include my wife as well was great,’’ LaCava said. “He makes my whole family feel a part of the team, so that’s a great thing for me. I feel fortunate to have the job that I have. I love working for the guy. I’m not going anywhere.”

The only place LaCava is going this week is Bethpage for the PGA Championship, which will be a home game of sorts for him as a Connecticut native and resident. He’ll have his share of followers outside the ropes alongside the throng that will follow his boss.

“You always like to play in front of any kind of New York crowd,’’ LaCava said. “The crowd will be great. I like it when they’re a little more loud and vocal. My family might come out over the weekend and I have a few friends coming out each day. Any time you’re in an environment like that, you definitely get jacked up.’’