Steve Williams, one of the most reliable sidekicks, has seen it everything! the exhilaration of winning, the pain of losing, and all emotions in between.
For about a decade and a half, Tiger Woods’s career was dominated by the looper. However, there are times when even the most seasoned caddies are put to the ultimate test. For Williams, there was one specific incident that sticks out as a real test of his abilities, intuition, and fast thinking.
Who would have imagined that moment would arrive in the shape of severe weather that drove Tiger Woods and Williams to their limits? An merciless blast of frigid weather slammed Muirfield Golf Course during the 2002 British Open. Williams remembers how harsh the weather were and how they were “nearly frozen to death.” In his book Out of the Rough: Inside the Ropes with the World’s Greatest Golfers, the looper recounted this incident on page 27.
Williams said, “We almost perished from cold out there because I didn’t have any extra layers of warm clothing or wet-weather gear.” At the time, Tiger’s round of 81 was the worst in his professional career. The caddie remembers the difficult day on the course because of the unforgiving weather and unsatisfactory results. It wasn’t the weather that prevented TW from breaking his personal worst round record at the Masters this year.
He has always, as it stands, meticulously prepared for tournaments. To design Woods’s approach, the sixty-year-old would traverse the course and record the locations of each hole. He would then combine this information with the anticipated direction of the wind. He was aware of where each bunker was and how to avoid it. However, the British weather caught him off guard, since Tiger Woods had won the U.S. Open and the Masters, the first two majors of 2002.
Woods did not perform as well as his colleagues in the difficult conditions. In the last round, Stuart Appleby tied Woods’ 65, Thomas Levet and Steve Elkington scored 66s, and Ernie Els, the eventual champion, carded a 70. Els prevailed in an exciting four-way playoff that concluded the competition.
The 48-year-old got off to a great start with his caddie, carding 70 and 68 in the opening two rounds. However, his round three 71, which was 10 over par, turned out to be the worst round in the championship at that point. But in the last round, he came on strong, shooting a stunning 65 to salvage a respectable finish with a T-28.
Nevertheless, Woods and Williams have both survived the worst of it. Ultimately, how we overcome obstacles defines who we are, and history is waiting for those who have the courage to stand out from the crowd. Tell us what you think of the pair’s adventure.