At the 2016 Masters, Kevin Kisner broke through Steve Williams’ legendary on-course silence in a way nobody expected. Paired with Adam Scott and Brooks Koepka in the first round, Kisner spent much of the day getting nothing but silence out of Scott’s caddie, Steve Williams, the man best known for spending 12 years on Tiger Woods‘ bag and helping deliver 13 majors, including the legendary “Tiger Slam.” That silence broke into one of the most memorable exchanges of Kisner’s career, as he recently revealed on the Fore Play podcast.
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“We’re on two fairways, waiting on the green to clear to hit our second shots. And he hasn’t said a word to me, Stevie Williams,” Kisner said. “… And I said, ‘Have you ever caddied in the Masters before?’ And he’s like, ‘I’ve got four green jackets,’ or whatever he said then. And I said, ‘Oh, really? You’ve got the green jackets. I didn’t know the caddy’s got a green jacket as well.”
Williams eventually warmed to it, and Kisner walked away with something few players on tour could claim.
Williams had built a reputation for keeping players at arm’s length, running a tight, no-nonsense operation that left little room for small talk. Fellow tour pro Hunter Mayhem, who played alongside Kisner and Williams during that stretch, once called Williams an intimidating physical presence on the course, the kind of caddie other players just avoided. That’s what made Kisner’s needling, and Williams’ response to it, stand out to everyone in the group.
“He didn’t know how to take me or that at that moment. And by the end of the round, we were talking so much s**t to each other, like in a fun way. And he was like, ‘I kind of like this guy.’ And I and Dewey and the other [caddies] in the group were like, ‘That’s the first time I’ve ever heard him interact with another player in my entire life.’ And I said, ‘Well, you just got busted balls enough.’”
It was Kisner’s first Masters Tournament in 2016. He earned his maiden invitation to Augusta National by winning The RSM Classic in November 2015 and finished his debut appearance tied for 37th. Notably, the exchange with Williams came in the first round, when Kisner was paired with Adam Scott and Brooks Koepka. Williams, of course, was there to caddie for Scott.
It was Kisner’s first Masters, earned after his maiden PGA Tour win at The RSM Classic in November 2015. He’d go on to finish tied for 37th, in a tournament won by Danny Willett. As for Williams’ “four green jackets” line: caddies don’t actually receive one. Winning caddies can petition Augusta National to keep their commemorative white caddie jumpsuit, though it normally has to be returned once the tournament ends. Still, Williams wasn’t lying. By 2026, Tiger Woods, whom he caddied for over 12 years, had won the Masters four times with Williams on the bag. (Woods’ fifth Masters win, in 2019, came after their partnership had ended.)
Over his decades-long career, Williams built a reputation as one of golf’s most decorated caddies, working for players ranging from Peter Thomson and Greg Norman to Ian Baker-Finch, Raymond Floyd, Adam Scott, Danielle Kang, Jason Day, Ryan Fox, and Anthony Quayle. But it’s the partnership with Woods, and the trust it built, that best explains exactly how good Williams was. Look no further than what Woods once did for his caddie.
Tiger Woods once gifted Steve Williams a rare car
More than two decades ago, Tiger Woods surprised Williams with a gift that was anything but ordinary: a limited-edition Ford GT40. Williams recalled the story during a 2025 appearance on The DOM HARVEY Podcast. While the pair were in Dubai for the Dubai Desert Classic, they watched the Ford Open finals in Miami.
Williams, a Ford enthusiast, jokingly encouraged Woods to take part in the tournament after seeing the winner receive a Ford GT. A year later, Woods competed in the event and won. Rather than keeping the coveted car, however, he decided to give it to Williams.
“As we’re walking off the green, Tiger just chucked the car keys. No word spoken,” Williams recalled.
The car was no ordinary Ford. It was a modern tribute to the legendary GT40 and featured a mid-mounted, supercharged 5.4-liter V8 producing 550 horsepower. For Williams, though, the sentimental value of the surprise made the gift even more special.
That being said, Steve Williams has had several memorable incidents on the course. While one got him a rare car, another saw him get needled into a friendship by Kevin Kisner.