Kiwi pro Ryan Fox describes Steve Williams as a legend of New Zealand golf. This weekend on the Gold Coast he just wants to give the game’s most accomplished caddie another Sunday buzz.
Having just completed his first full season on the European Tour, Fox sent an SOS to Williams to caddie for him at the Australian PGA Championship when his regular caddie, South African Dean Smith, elected to stay home and attend a friend’s wedding.
It’s a reunion of sorts for Fox and Williams who worked together at the New Zealand Open earlier this year when the 30-year-old finished sixth without playing anywhere near his best golf. Fox saw first-hand the value Williams can provide.
The long-time caddie for Greg Norman, Tiger Woods and Adam Scott came out of semi-retirement in September to caddie for American Danielle Kang at the New Zealand Women’s Open. Now Fox is hoping he can convince him to become a more regular fixture.
“It’s obviously a great honour to have someone of Steve’s calibre on the bag. I enjoyed working with him at the New Zealand Open,” Fox said after a practice round at RACV Royal Pines Resort on Tuesday.
“Hopefully I can give him a good week and be in contention on Sunday. I know that’s what he enjoys in golf and hopefully we get that chance.
“He’s caddied for four No.1 players in the world in his 40-year career. I didn’t know too much about before Tiger, I wasn’t old enough. Spending 10 years with Tiger, I think he said they’ve won more than 100 times together. There’s no other caddie with those kind of credentials. He’s just a legend of the game really.
“I’ve got a full-time caddie in Europe but if the opportunity arises in the future [to work more together], I’d love for it to happen.”
Known for his booming drives that don’t always stay on target, Fox isn’t expecting Williams to try and talk him out of any miraculous recovery shots should the need arise during the tournament.
“I don’t know if he tried to talk Tiger out of too many things,” Fox laughed. “Obviously if the opportunity is there to take it on, you’ve got to take it on.
“I think Steve would be of the position that you’ve got to give it a go if you want to win tournaments. You’ve got to take some chances and I think we’ll be trying to do that this week.
“There’s definitely some holes out here where you’ve got to play a little bit safe, but it will be a little bit of both this week. Hopefully we can put a few scores on the board and be up there come Sunday.”
