Steve Williams (caddie)

Williams with Tiger Woods at a 2004 Ryder Cup practice session

Steve Williams, MNZM (born 29 December 1963 in Wellington) is a New Zealander who has served as caddy for several top professional golfers. Since 1999, he has been the regular caddy for Tiger Woods, who has been the top-ranked golfer in the world for much of Williams' tenure as caddy.

Career

Williams began caddying at his home club at age 6. By age 10, he was frequently caddying 36 holes on weekend days and then practicing his golf game until dark, becoming a two-handicapper by age 13. However, as he reports on his official site, "by the age of thirteen I found myself enjoying caddying more than playing."

He received his first break as a caddy in 1976, when his father arranged for him to carry the bags of Australian great Peter Thomson in the New Zealand Open. Thomson, who finished third, was impressed with the young Williams, who became his regular caddy when he played in New Zealand. The teenaged Williams also traveled to Australia on school breaks to caddy in tournaments there. In 1979, before he turned 16, he left school and moved to Europe to become a caddy on the European Tour.

Williams spent much of the next decade caddying on almost all of the world's major professional tours. He got steady work with several Australian pros, among them Ian Baker-Finch. During this time, he met Greg Norman, and in 1982 became Norman's regular caddy in all his events in Asia and Australasia, as well as some European events. In 1988, Williams moved to the United States to become Norman's full-time caddy. However, Norman would fire him in 1989. Williams admitted later that he had gotten too close personally to Norman. Nonetheless, the two remain good friends, and Norman later admitted he had made a mistake and tried to rehire him several years later. Williams would not long stay unemployed, as Raymond Floyd hired him shortly after Norman let him go. He continued to carry Floyd's bag on both the regular and senior U.S. tours until 1999.

Tiger Woods

Early in the 1999 season at the Doral - Ryder Open, Woods' then-coach Butch Harmon approached Williams, asking if he would be interested in caddying for Woods, who had just fired his original tour caddy, Mike "Fluff" Cowan. Harmon had previously asked Floyd's permission to talk with Williams. After the event, Williams drove to Orlando to interview with Woods, who hired him on the spot.

Williams has been an important part of Woods' team ever since. In fact, Woods said in a 2002 Golf Digest piece,

Without Stevie, I might not have won the 2000 PGA Championship. The 12th hole at Valhalla on Sunday, the wind changed and Stevie called me off the shot, telling me to hit it harder than we'd planned. He had the guts to do that.

In the 2006 Ryder Cup singles match Williams slipped while trying to clean Woods's 9 iron during the 7th hole, and ended up dropping it in the water. The club was later retrieved by a diver, and handed back to Woods on the 15th hole. Woods went on to win his match but the U.S. ended up losing 18.5 to 9.5.

Woods and Williams are known to be close friends off the course, as Woods attended Williams' wedding in New Zealand in 2005 and has observed many of Williams' races.

Williams has been known to aggressively defend Woods on the course from overbearing fans. At one event his large stature was useful in taking a camera from a fan who clicked a picture of Woods during his backswing.

During an event in New Zealand in December 2008, he made news for comments about Phil Mickelson. According to The Guardian newspaper of Britain he said, "I wouldn't call Mickelson a great player, 'cause I hate the prick". In a next-day interview with another newspaper, the New Zealand-based Star Times, Williams also said, "I don't particularly like the guy. He pays me no respect at all and hence I don't pay him any respect. It's no secret we don't get along either."

Other interests

Williams does not discuss his financial arrangements with Woods, but he has used part of his earnings from carrying Woods' bag to start a charitable foundation to assist junior golfers in his homeland. This charitable involvement was cited in his appointment as Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, announced on June 4, 2007 in the Queen's Birthday Honours list. In his free time, he also indulges a long-time passion for Speedway Racing, and races a Saloon car and a Super Saloon regularly during the speedway season. He was the national Super Saloon car champion for the 2005/2006.

Williams gave NZ$1 million to a cancer ward at Starship Children's Health in 2008.

Williams recently took a few jabs at Phil Michelson during a speech at a charity function in New Zealand. Williams called Michelson a word rhyming with 'brick' and recounted a story about a fan commenting on Phil's upper-body physique. Later, when Williams was asked about his comments, he responded "I don't particularly like the guy. He pays me no respect at all and hence I don't pay him any respect. It's no secret we don't get along either."

Sources

Steve Williams, Hugh De Lacy. Golf at the Top with Steve Williams: Tips and Techniques from the Caddy to Raymond Floyd, Greg Norman, and Tiger Woods, Ulysses Press, (2006) - ISBN 1569755272

External links

• Official website

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=stevewilliams