Steve Williams (caddy)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Steve Williams (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.
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[edit] The beginning
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."
[edit] The big break
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.
[edit] Traveling the world
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.
[edit] Tiger Woods
Early in the 1999 season at the Doral 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 Steve slipped, whilst trying to clean Tiger'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 Tiger on the 15th hole. Tiger went on to win his match but the US ended up losing 18.5 to 9.5.
[edit] Other interests
Williams does not discuss his financial arrangements with Woods, but is reported to be the highest paid New Zealand sportsman. He has used part of his earnings from carrying Woods' bag to start a charitable foundation to assist junior golfers in his homeland. In his free time, he also indulges a long-time passion for stock car racing, frequently driving in races in New Zealand.
