Tiger Woods’ former caddie Steve Williams has described his anger and frustration at being “hung out to dry” by Woods’ management when the golfer’s infidelities were revealed in 2009, and says he was sometimes treated as a “slave” on the course.
A New Zealand newspaper on Sunday published a chapter of Williams’ tell-all book, Out of the Rough, in which the New Zealand-born caddie describes his reaction on learning of Woods’ extramarital affairs.
Williams writes that he did not hear from his close friend Woods for four months as the golfer’s marriage, career and reputation fell apart.
While Williams says he was angry to learn Woods had cheated on his wife, Elin Nordegren, “he was still a friend in trouble and I was going to stick by him. 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.”
Williams says his life became “absolutely miserable” as details of Woods’ behavior emerged and people suspected he had been aware of, or event played some part in Woods’ affairs.
“People in my local community would front up to me at the shops and call me a liar to my face, and ask: ‘What are you doing with him?’” Williams wrote. “I repeatedly asked for Tiger’s management to release a statement that would clear me of any involvement in this lurid news. They simply wouldn’t do it because there were others in his group who knew exactly what was going on and management felt they couldn’t single out one person as innocent. Angry, frustrated and hung out to dry, I was also in limbo about when I would next work.”
Williams said he did not consider quitting as Woods’ caddie “as I felt incredibly loyal to Tiger — this was the toughest time of his life and I wasn’t going to ditch him.”
“Tiger finally rang me on March 23 [2010],” Williams wrote. “He had already sent me an apologetic email when he was in rehab. It was heartfelt and meaningful; he was open, honest and remorseful and it reinforced my thinking that because I was so straight up and had such strong values, he felt he couldn’t tell me what was going on with his affairs.”
Williams said that before resuming his 13-year association with Woods, he met with the golfer and presented a list of demands.
“I wanted him to prove to me he could change his behavior and show me — and the game of golf — more respect,” he said.
Williams said he often felt angry when Woods “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,” he wrote. “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.”
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care