No matter what you choose to believe, Steve Williams bears no grudge, harbors no malice, and holds no anger against Tiger Woods. The Kiwi had a front-row seat to a large part of Woods’s most dominant years. He was on the bag during 72 of the 85 titles that tie Woods jointly with Sam Snead for the most victories on the PGA Tour. A further 13 of the 15 Majors that the former World No. 1 has on his resume came with Williams by his side. 

It wouldn’t have been surprising if Williams had a bit of bitterness in his heart after Woods unexpectedly fired him after his marital troubles. “To this day I find that a hard pill to swallow,” said Williams as recently as 2021. But in a chat with Kiwi radio host Dom Harvey, the veteran looper insists the media willfully misinterpreted his comments in the wake of Adam Scott’s WGC-Bridgestone triumph and the 2013 Masters win.

Steve Williams clears the air

Williams said the reaction poured out in the heat of the moment. Adam Scott’s 2013 Masters triumph had added significance. Scott became the first Aussie to score a victory at Augusta. Williams recounted that the reaction came out, “in that particular moment, in the excitement of what’s going on and the thrill of winning the Masters especially now knowing that he’s the first Australian to win.”

Williams knew what it meant for the Aussies and for the entire continent. 17 years before that, an Australian was leading a Brit by six shots heading into the final round at Augusta. The five-shot collapse to Nick Faldo, which would go on to eclipse Greg Norman’s other triumphs, has been a blot on every Australian’s heart. 

Let’s not forget, that Williams had caddied for the Great White Shark for seven years in his early days. The veteran bagman emphasized, “I’ve been on Greg Norman’s bag, a couple of times. It’s a major heartbreak on (sic) Augusta. And now Australians (have) won that turn. I just know what it means.” 

Williams also went back to his comments at the 2011 WGC Bridgestone which he also won with Scott. “The best win of my life,” boldly proclaimed the veteran caddie after Scott’s victory, which came just months after splitting with Tiger Woods.  It was widely portrayed as the answer to his former employer. 

Interestingly, in his biography, the veteran caddie mentioned that working with the 82-time PGA Tour winner was not always a pleasant experience. Recounting how Tiger Woods would sometimes throw a club and expect him to pick it up, Williams wrote, “I felt uneasy about bending down to pick up his discarded club – it was like I was his slave.”

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But the Kiwi looper claimed his reactions were blown out of proportion. Was he miffed at that? The veteran caddie shrugs. “You know, the media loves to add their twist or anything. You know, I’m saying that that works.” Williams, in fact, eulogizes Woods for honoring a special commitment.

Williams invited Tiger Woods for an ‘Open’ trip to his motherland

Williams had one rule whenever he caddied stateside. “I always say that if you win to major you got to come and play in the New Zealand Open.” When Woods roped him in after parting ways with Mike “Fluff’ Cowan, Williams put forth the proposal to Woods as well. 

Woods, came to the Paraparaumu Course, Williams’s hometown golf club in 2002. Williams recounts, “After he won the major, that was the first thing he said, ‘When I’m playing in the New Zealand Open?’. And so, you know, hats off to the guy, straight away for honoring that commitment. So that was pretty, pretty impressive.” But on rain-soaked greens, the 15x Major Champion finished tied for the sixth place. Williams, though, is still happy that the former World No. 1 honored his commitment.

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