During Tiger Woods’s heyday, Steve Williams was an employee of the golf legend. However, after the American player became hurt, Steve Williams temporarily switched allegiance and was fired.
During Tiger Woods’ heyday, Steve Williams caddied for the superstar, but he was fired after briefly switching to a different player.
Between 1999 and 2011, the New Zealander played alongside Woods on some of the most difficult courses on the planet. This undoubtedly helped Woods achieve 15 major career victories and a record 82 PGA Tour titles, nine more than the legendary Jack Nicklaus. Because of his hard work and his share of Woods’ winnings, Williams became one of the most renowned caddies in golf history, amassing a reported net worth of £15.7 million ($20 million) after the extraordinary run of success.
Woods would win 64 of his tour titles, 13 of his 15 majors, nine Tour Player of the Year honors, and 281 weeks at No. 1 in the world between June 2005 and October 2010 with Williams by his side. However, Williams’s good fortune would not last long as he had previously revealed Woods’ reasoning for firing him.
In the 2021 Woods documentary, Williams stated: “Tiger took a brief hiatus from the game following the Masters in order to clear his head and address a few bothersome injuries. As Tiger Woods’ caddie and close friend, I wanted to sincerely respect what he was going through, but I was unsure of when he would return to the game.”
“I was just anticipating a call at any time to tell me, ‘I’m playing again next week, get your s*** together and come over here,'” he continued. A great deal of uncertainty existed. Thus, when I received a call from a friend I had previously caddied for, asking if I could caddie for him,
But shortly after, Woods is reported to have had second thoughts and called Williams to threaten to sever their professional relationship if Williams caddied for someone else. Williams clarified, saying, “But Tiger had a change of heart a few days prior to the tournament.
“He received a call from his agent, who informed him that his time caddying for Tiger would end if he went to caddie for his friend. I didn’t think the guy could possibly fire me. However, I received a call a few days following the tournament informing me that our time was up.
“I firmly feel that I gave it my all while caddying for Tiger during my whole tenure with him, and it grieves me that he fired me for such an act. That struck me as being rather unusual. Williams would caddie for Adam Scott in the incident, covering for Woods at the 2011 US Open due to his injury.
Williams added that by collaborating with Scott, he had lost a close friend in addition to his job. “I thought he was firing me as a golf caddie and not as a friend,” he continued after being fired. I never imagined that Tiger, who served as my wedding’s best man, would stop talking to me forever. I simply didn’t even consider that. That’s still a tough pill for me to swallow. After thirteen years of dating and investing all of your time and energy into him, the man is unable to communicate with you.”
Williams would collaborate with Scott through 2017 before momentarily caddying for Jason Day in 2019. In 2022–2023 he would return to the courses with Scott. Woods, on the other hand, hasn’t triumphed in a major championship since the Masters in 2019.
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