Tiger Woods’s Sudden Hiatus Put His Relationship With Caddie of 12 Year in Jeopardy: ‘Things Weren’t the Same’

For 13 of Tiger Woods‘s 15 major victories, his former caddie, Steve Williams, was by his side. However, this close partnership did not bridge the gap between them during the tumultuous marital scandal and the time Woods spent away from the course in the 2000s.

Not only was Woods facing backlash for his extramarital affairs, but he was also dealing with injuries. The result? An end to a 12-year relationship between Steve Williams and Tiger Woods. However, according to the latest updates, the reasons for their separation may have been more complex.

Recently, Steve Williams sat down for a discussion on the High Performance podcast to promote his book Together We Roared. He discussed his relationship with Woods and their separation. “But to be brutally honest, after Tiger came back after his, you know, time away from the game there…we don’t need to get into that. But when he came back, I-I just… it just didn’t feel the same. The connection between the two of us wasn’t the same. Something was missing. So, had something not been missing, um, it would have been very likely that situation could have arose where I would have, you know, tried to put things behind us. But things weren’t the same, they didn’t feel the same.”

The split between Tiger Woods and Steve Williams in 2011 was historic, occurring after Williams caddied for Australian golfer Adam Scott during Woods’s break from the game. Williams has mentioned several times that Woods’s agent warned him that if he caddied for anyone other than Woods, their relationship would end. Despite this warning, the separation still shocked Williams, as he has admitted in numerous interviews.

But returning to Steve Williams’ comments, what did he think changed in Tiger Woods after the break during the late 2000s? According to him, he was concerned for Tiger Woods, regardless of the accusations thrown at him. “When I came back, he-he, you know… he’d been through a rough period no question about that. Obviously, if he could take his time back, he would do things differently, but um, there just wasn’t the same connection. I can’t really put my finger right on it, but there just wasn’t that same connection towards each other.”

via Imago

In 2021, Williams revealed that Tiger Woods’s initial reaction to him caddying for Adam Scott was not very strict. In fact, Woods was fine with it until he changed his mind, leading to the news of the firing. Despite their bitter history and the many memories Williams shared in his recent book, the former caddie shared a desire to stay in touch with Woods whenever possible.

Steve Williams will take another gamble on Tiger Woods if he can

During his appearance in the same interview, Steve Williams was asked if he would like to work with Tiger Woods again. His answer was as you would expect it to be. Talking on the High Performance podcast, Williams shared an interesting story first. He shared that he met Tiger Woods during the 2023 Los Angeles Open. Despite their history, the two had a long chat. Williams added, “It was good. We all know that time heals; we talk about that in all sports and all sorts of relationships. Time heals, and it does.” However, interestingly, this isn’t the first time Williams has talked about their strong bond.

In 2024, he talked about his bond with Tiger Woods during an interview with Dom Harvey. Talking about it then, Williams said that part of the reason their relationship works is because they have the same attitude towards seeing the same kind of hard work and dedication. “We just struck a bond that I haven’t struck with any other player. So we became very tight, for sure.” 

And that is why it was not surprising when he replied, “Yeah, I’m in. How would you not?” when asked if he would say “yes” to Tiger Woods’s proposal of working with him again. Let’s hope we get to see the iconic duo back on the course again.