Tiger Woods and Steve Williams were one of the most iconic duos on the greens. They were a team for 12 years before the golfer fired him without any warning. When they were together inside the ropes, they won 13 majors and 63 Tour titles. Pretty stunning, if you ask us! But at the same time, the golf community knows that Woods is no stranger to scandals, with one of the biggest ones being the infamous 2009 one that broke the internet in November. Another one of the scandals that took the spotlight years ago was how Woods fired Williams.
It was 2011, and Woods had withdrawn from AT&T National because of a leg injury. Adam Scott needed a caddie, so he reached out to Williams, and the latter asked Woods if he could caddy for Scott.
Woods agreed initially but later changed his mind for unknown reasons. Williams then did not find it right to say no to Adam Scott at the last moment as he was a man of his word, so he held his bag at the tournament. Clueless Williams “had no idea” that he “was going to get fired over it.” After the US Open that year, the 15x major winner fired his bagman of 12 years. Recalling it, Williams said, “I was told (by Tiger) after the U.S. Open that I no longer had a job and it’s as simple as that.”
But this is not the entire story!
Is Tiger Woods hiding the truth about the firing or Steve Williams is?
Seven years ago, Williams appeared on Graham Bensinger’s YouTube Channel to talk about many things, including how he was laid off by Tiger Woods. Bensinger mentioned that Woods said that he fired Williams in person, but the guest on his show said that it was done over the phone. The interviewer point blank asked, “Why would Tiger lie about that?” Williams confidently answered, “I mean, I have my take on how it unfolded and he has his take on how it unfolded, and that’s how I’ll leave it.”
The New Zealand international started caddying for Woods under extraordinary circumstances. In an interview with Don Harvey, 7 months ago, Williams stated that he did not want to be a bagman anymore because he did not like the gypsy lifestyle that came with it. Then he met with Woods and learned about the golfer’s aspirations, and was immediately impressed as he thought that it was going to be a thrilling ride, and it sure was. “I’d also decided that I’d had enough, and 2000 was going to be my last year caddying, so when Tiger called me, I wasn’t 100% sure I was going to take the job. But I flew to Orlando and interviewed with him, and he hired me on the spot,” said Williams.
During the Merrill Lynch Skin’s game, Woods was about to take an important comeback shot on the 18th hole. However, during his backswing, he was distracted by the sounds of a camera, resulting in a poor attempt. While Woods stared at the fan, Williams walked fuming pulled the $7,000 camera, and threw it in the lake. Incidents like these tell us how close Williams and Woods were. Thus, it was unfortunate that they were not partners anymore.
Although his loyalty was with Woods when they were on the greens, the same cannot be said when they were off the greens. After the infamous scandal in 2009, Williams chose to side with his good friend Elin Nordegren.
