In the game of golf, a caddie is the golfer’s closest accomplice. With a deep insight into their best and worst shots, they surely know the golfer they are working with through and through. The key requirement of developing a deep insight coupled with an elongated period—that’s exactly what Steve Williams offered Tiger Woods. That was until it all abruptly ended.

With 12 years of professional togetherness – from 1999 to 2011 – Williams saw Woods through some of his career’s most powerful highs and deepest lows. Sharing an insight into his time with the now-48-year-old sensation, the caddie recently revealed what made their partnership work.

Steve Williams had a bond like no other with Tiger Woods

With a relationship as long as the one between Woods and his long-time former caddie, ups and downs become part and parcel. Years after unveiling some dark aspects from their time together, Steve Williams recently gave the golf world the shock of their lives with his new (and contradictory) take on the golf world’s hall of fame-r.

Williams revealed that what they had was more of a partnership than a boss-employee bond, a commonality between most players and their caddies. Describing his relationship with the 15-time Major winner, the former caddie said, “I think we had a bond probably closer than any of the other players I’d carry for, certainly because I was considerably older than Tiger. We struck a relationship where we both had the same attitude towards seeing the same kind of hard work, dedication. We just struck a bond that probably I haven’t struck with any other player. So we became very tight, for sure.” But that wasn’t all.

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Apart from pushing each other to the limit on the golf course, Woods managed to do so even outside the greens. “When I went to work with him, he brought a whole new meaning for the word ‘fitness’ to me,” revealed Williams. What made these comments rather striking was the fact that they came eight years after Woods’ former caddie published his autobiography. And one thing he said about Woods left the golf community perplexed.

In his autobiography Out of the Rough, Steve Williams called out Woods for treating him like a “slave.” In his words, “One thing that really pi**ed me off was how he 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.”

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Considering this and Williams’ recent revelation about his partnership with Woods, how did their relationship turn sour?

Williams and Woods: Exploring their dark past

Until 2011, Steve Williams was Tiger Woods’ right-hand man. However, around the time the 15-time Major champion fired his caddie, he was also facing allegations of infidelity toward his ex-wife, Elin Nordegren. On top of that, his professional career wasn’t doing so well either. But instead of sticking with Williams post that period, Woods parted ways, shocking everyone.

However, shortly after, Williams started working with Adam Scott. And that’s when the first cracks in the Woods-Williams relationship came to the surface. After Scoot won at Bridgestone with Williams, the caddie said,  “I’ve been caddying for 33 years, and this is the best week of my life.” In an interview, he opened up about how Woods fired him, revealing, “I was told after U.S. Open that I no longer had a job.”

There was a time when several outlets claimed Williams even made a racist comment about Woods after the split. When Woods was asked about it, though, he stood by his former partner’s side. He said, “Steve’s certainly not a racist. There’s no doubt about that. It was a comment that certainly shouldn’t have been made and certainly one that he wished he didn’t make.” 

Tiger Woods has made it abundantly clear over the years that parting with Williams was a very tough decision. And despite all the ups and downs, Woods expressed how it was “awesome to have Stevie for all those years.” From what Steve Williams said in his recent interview, they seemed to have left their differences behind. What do you think about the relationship?

‘[Tiger Woods] Wasn’t Playing That Well’: Steve Williams Recalls Former Boss’s Rough Patch 13 Years After Split