Steve Williams has been famously associated with two golfers in his career. His time with Tiger Woods saw the duo run through many big tournaments. The majority of the success the G.O.A.T. experienced was with Williams by his side. He won 63 PGA Tour titles, including 13 majors during that period. After Woods, the veteran caddie joined Greg Norman in winning many titles. Williams was still a rookie when he joined the former LIV Golf CEO.
While Williams’s relationship with Woods was a bit stressful, he did share a great bond with Norman. He was only 19 when the Australian legend hired him. The 61-year-old also admitted that he learned a lot from Norman during their time together. “We spent so much time together… I was staying at his house in Florida. We were going fishing all the time. We were surfing. We were spending an enormous amount of time. He didn’t become the guy I was working for. He was just a mate,” said Williams. Unfortunately, their friendship was also the reason behind their separation as on-course partners. The caddie confessed that he “crossed the line” with Norman instead of being an outlet for his frustration on the course. In the end, the 70-year-old ended up firing him, only to regret doing so not long after.
Steve Williams joined the Between Two Beers Podcast, sharing the story of everything that happened after. One of the hosts, Steven Holloway, asked the retired caddie what was going on when Norman had the meltdown in ’96 and called Williams soon after to invite him over. Williams replied, “I watched that meltdown. I was as angry as anybody. Not long after he finished the round, I was staying in a rented house in Augusta and he phoned me. He asked, ‘Are you still in town, Steve?’ I said ‘Yeah’. He said, ‘Can you meet me at the airport? I want you to come back to Florida with me tonight’.” At first, it seemed like Norman was looking for a friend soon after he lost at Augusta National. Williams clarified that their reason for flying to Florida was that his current boss, Raymond Floyd, was playing at Hilton Head next.
Norman also mentioned how he, too, was playing at Hilton Head that week, and they could travel to Florida together. Sitting at his residence in West Palm Beach, Norman confided in Williams as they were just “two grown men crying” about a heartbreaking loss until sunrise. “I was disappointed for him but he was trying to talk me into going back to work for him because he felt that in that particular round, if I was caddying for him then things might have turned a bit differently.” Norman may have realized that having Williams as his caddie at Augusta National would have helped him finally win his first Green Jacket.
Greg Norman suffered a lot that week, as despite having an outstanding three-round performance, he didn’t have the proper guidance on the course to finish. Williams explained what happened back then and how he would have advised against the strategy he eventually used. He said, “He (Norman) was trying to protect the lead. He had a big lead. Instead of trying to go out and bettering that lead… That’s the difference that day. He was just trying to hang on to that lead and play. He’s a very aggressive player and overnight, for some reason, he went with a conservative approach and it all fell apart.” Norman had a 6-stroke lead against Nick Faldo with a 13-under par 203 after 54 holes. His first round performance of 9-under 63 helped him stay at the top of the table since the very first day. Unfortunately, a +6 on Sunday along with Faldo’s -5 flipped things around for the two as the Englishman ended up winning the Green Jacket by 5 strokes instead.
Steve Williams mentioned how, during that time, he had considered switching back to work for Norman. However, he believed leaving Raymond Floyd wasn’t the right thing to do. From 1989 to 1996, for seven years running, Williams caddied for Floyd before starting to work for Woods in 1997. Had he decided to go back to work for Norman, then he would have probably never worked with the G.O.A.T.
Tiger Woods and caddie Steve Williams.
Interestingly, Greg Norman had himself admitted how he regretted letting go of Williams in ’89. Bleacher Report confirmed the same in one of their updates from 2018. Let’s take a look at what the two achieved together to understand why the Australian great wanted his former caddie around for longer.
The Greg Norman and Steve Williams partnership
Steve Williams was only 19 when he was first hired by Greg Norman. Prior to that, he had worked with the 5x Open Champion winner and Australian legend, Peter Thompson, for a brief period. From 1982 to 1989, Norman played in many PGA Tour and international events. During this period, the former LIV Golf boss won 6 titles, including The Open Championship in 1986.
They also won many titles internationally. Outside the PGA Tour, Norman and Williams captured 21 wins. This included multiple Australian Masters wins. In total, the Australian legend had received expert guidance from his caddie for 27 career victories. No wonder he wanted to get back in business with Williams after losing at Augusta National.
Do you think Greg Norman would have won a Green Jacket if he hadn’t fired Steve Williams in 1989? Let us know in the comments section.
The post ‘Two Grown Men Crying..’: Ex-Caddie Admits Greg Norman Begged Him to Return After Messy Split appeared first on EssentiallySports.