STEVE Williams may have unleashed on Tiger Woods in his recently-released autobiography, but there are some fascinating insights that don’t smash his former employer.
Here are four of them:
- Williams gave inaccurate distances to his players because he thought it was the right club selection, Tiger included. And often he got it correct:
“A good example in my career was Tiger Woods’ penultimate shot on the 72nd hole at the US Open at Torrey Pines in 2008,” Williams wrote
“I convinced Tiger to ignore the yardage book and to hit the club I felt would deliver the best outcome. It was a hell of a decision but my gut feeling on how he would execute that shot proved correct and allowed him to get into a playoff.”
2. Australian icon Greg Norman begged Williams to return to the Shark’s bag following Norman’s capitulation to Nick Faldo at the 1996 Masters:
“[Norman] knew he had let his greatest opportunity to win the Masters slip through his hands,” Williams wrote. “Suddenly he was begging me to come back to be his caddie. Without knocking Tony Navarro, I truly believe that with a different approach I may have been able to make a difference that day.”
3. Tiger had enough of golf and nearly became a Navy SEAL in 2004.
After Tiger finished 14 shots behind Retief Goosen at the 2004 US Open at Shinnecock Hills, Tiger is believed to have told Williams, “Stevie, I think I’ve had enough of golf. I’d really like to try to be a Navy SEAL … As I understood it, he knew someone who could get him in.”
4. Adam Scott’s Major-winning partnership with the Kiwi began when Williams at Augusta in 2011, and Tiger was not happy about it.
“I told Adam in no uncertain terms he had to go out there and believe he was the best player, that it was his day and to keep telling himself, ‘I’m Adam Scott and I’m winning this tournament,’” Williams writes.
A few weeks later, Williams writes, Tiger told him: “If you caddy for Adam, that’s you and me finished.”
