Tiger Woods' caddie Steve Williams: 'It was like I was his slave'
Wednesday 4 November 2015 12:38, UK
Steve Williams has claimed Tiger Woods' golf-course behaviour sometimes made him feel as if he were a 'slave'.
In the caddie's autobiography, Out of the Rough, New Zealander Williams also insists he had no knowledge of Woods' infedility that shocked the sporting world when details of his private life were exposed late in 2009.
Williams, who accompanied Woods to 13 major titles during their 13-year partnership, says he did not have any contact from the player for four months after the allegations went public, and hits out at Woods' management team for their apparent refusal to clear Williams of any involvement.
Williams carried on working with Woods when he returned to competitive golf at the 2010 Masters, but only after meeting with the former world No 1 and insisting he improved his behavior on and off the course.
"I wanted him to prove to me he could change his behavior and show me and the game of golf, more respect," wrote Williams, who expressed his anger and frustration over how he was treated during some tournaments.
"Tiger would flippantly toss a club in the general direction of the bag, expecting me to go over and pick it up. I felt uneasy about bending down to pick up his discarded club - it was like I was his slave.
I felt uneasy about bending down to pick up his discarded club - it was like I was his slave
"The other thing that disgusted me was his habit of spitting at the hole if he missed a putt. Tiger listened to what I had to say, the air was cleared and we got on with it... his goal was to be the best player in history and my goal was to keep working as best I could to help make that happen."
Woods eventually parted company with the caddie in July 2011 and Williams went on to work for Adam Scott, partnering the Australian to the Masters title in 2013.
Williams' book, which goes on sale this week, describes how he felt "absolutely miserable" when the details of Woods' behavior surfaced in 2009, but how he was determined to stand by the player and did not consider quitting his bag.
On learning that Woods had been accused of a series of affairs while married to Elin Nordegren, Williams wrote: "He was still a friend in trouble and I was going to stick by him. I did that even though people were accusing me of being an enabler, an accomplice, saying I was lying when I stated clearly that I knew nothing about this.
"People in my local community would front up to me at the shops and call me a liar to my face, and ask 'what are you doing with him?' I repeatedly asked for Tiger's management to release a statement that would clear me of any involvement in this lurid news.
"They simply wouldn't do it because there were others in his group who knew exactly what was going on and management felt they couldn't single out one person as innocent. Angry, frustrated and hung out to dry, I was also in limbo about when I would next work.
"As I felt incredibly loyal to Tiger this was the toughest time of his life and I wasn't going to ditch him. Tiger finally rang me on March 23 (2010). He had already sent me an apologetic email when he was in rehab.
"It was heartfelt and meaningful; he was open, honest and remorseful and it reinforced my thinking that because I was so straight up and had such strong values, he felt he couldn't tell me what was going on with his affairs."
