Tiger Woods’s spurned caddie still carrying plenty of baggage

Given context, there is something poetic about Steve Williams's portrayal as a jilted lover. Such an analysis of his behaviour would seem entirely fair given the excerpts from the caddie's new book that emerged in New Zealand over the weekend in which he railed against his former employer, Tiger Woods.

Williams's objection to all things Woods isn't fresh. The grudge he seems to bear over his sacking by the 14-times Major winner has lingered for more than four years. In 2013, while working for Adam Scott during the Australian's Masters success, Williams pointedly referred to victory as the greatest of his own career, a ludicrous concept given the epic peaks scaled while he was on the bag of Woods.

Earlier, in the months after his sacking, the caddie had scandalously claimed his wild celebration following a Scott win at Akron was pointedly directed at Woods. “My aim was to shove it right up that black arsehole,” Williams said while on stage at a Caddies Awards dinner in China, having won “celebration of the year”. It was appalling that no official action was taken against Williams by golf’s governing bodies. Woods, though, to his credit, immediately defended his former caddie in the midst of a racism storm.

Williams and Woods were once the tightest alliance in golf. Their break-up has festered with Williams. A book was simply the next logical step. It too, seems a pointless project.

Dim view

Forgive us scepticism, then, as Williams – far from the most popular figure in golf – publishes this literary work which preaches about his dim view of Woods’s extra-marital activities. A scratch of the surface shows Williams took special umbrage to wrongly being linked as an aider and abettor, which he quite clearly wasn’t.

In the book, Woods’s management team are in the firing line just as much as the golfer himself, owing to a four-month radio silence towards Williams after details of Woods’s antics emerged. Williams appeared to regard himself as an integral character to all things Woods; when it suited him. And yet, is Williams’s analysis of Woods’s private life significant? The caddie also hits out at the media, whom Williams accuses of intrusion towards his family after scandal engulfed Woods. The same media, presumably, Williams will thank as his book is globally publicised. The same media who lauded him, hilariously, as a sporting superstar in his own right.

The same media, certainly, he had scant regard for when on the Woods payroll. An example? The British Open Championship of 2003, with a ball search required as a shot was carved from the first tee on day one at Sandwich. “If you are not here to help, f**k off,” barked Williams towards a radio commentator. This was not an isolated incident.

Williams may have given his book, Out of the Rough, the wrong title. Perhaps '12 Years a Slave, 1999 to 2011', would be more apt given he chose the word "slave" to describe the feeling when required to retrieve Woods' discarded clubs when on tournament duty. Rightly or wrongly, the blunt reality is this constitutes part of a caddie's job.

Perhaps Williams should be reminded that slaves aren’t paid several million dollars. They don’t fly around the globe with one of the greatest sportsmen of all-time. If Williams was so frequently disgusted by Woods’s conduct on the golf course, as he insists was the case, why didn’t he seek alternative employment? We probably know the answer to that; this was surely too good a thing.

There is a wider point to be considered. Is it legitimate for Williams to write such a book in the first place? It is a dangerous precedent if players need to be guarded in the company of their trusted assistant, for fear of a subsequent book deal. Caddies have fantastic stories to tell, they are terrific company and provide an insight of golf and its characters that is not routinely available. They are also more professional and relied upon now than has ever been the case. Time spent in the company of a caddie is rarely wasted.

Journeyman

Williams, though, is different. He is no journeyman. He benefited hugely from the glory of Woods, assuming status in New Zealand which he could only have dreamed of. And make no mistake, Williams was the clear beneficiary of the duo; for all that his value as a bagman should be recognised, Woods was the golfing genius.

Now, and after an ugly parting of the ways, we have Williams again extracting further advantage from the Woods name.

Whatever other gems exist within the book, the weekend proved all anyone really cares about is previously private information about one man. For his part, Woods is entitled to object as he recovers from his latest bout of back surgery.

If everybody has a great book in them, some should keep it there. Steve Williams constitutes a prime example, on the simple grounds of motivation. Guardian Service