WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Nov. 2 (UPI) — Tiger Woods‘ former caddie Steve Williams has said that he was treated like a ‘slave’ during his 13 years working for the golfer.
In an excerpt published by New Zealand’s Stuff magazine from Williams’ new memoir Out of the Rough, the famous caddie describes how Woods would continually frustrate him during competitions.
“One thing that really pissed 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,” Williams wrote. “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.”
Williams also goes into detail about how he knew nothing about Wood’s marital infidelity and how the golfer’s high-profile cheating scandal affected his life.
“Only a handful of his oldest buddies actually had any idea this was going on,” the excerpt reads. “I didn’t know because Tiger didn’t dare tell me. We had such a strong bond and working relationship that there was no way he could let me in on what was happening — he knew my values and that I would have zero tolerance for that kind of behavior.
“But regardless of the morality of the matter, he was still a friend in trouble and I was going to stick by him,” he continued. “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. For months on end, my life was absolutely miserable.”
Woods and Williams began working together in 1999, with Woods winning 13 major championships along the way before the caddie was fired over the phone in 2011.
Williams now works on a limited basis for golfer Adam Scott while Woods announced in October that he would have to sit out the rest of year as he rehabs from back surgery.
