Steve Williams reveals the number of majors Tiger planned to win
Ben Alberstadt | GolfWRX.com
Steve Williams, Tiger Woods’ caddie from 1999 through 2011, has spoken and written about his former boss on a few occasions since the pair parted ways — most notably in his book “Out of the Rough.”
Rehashing their strained relationship is beside the point, but if you’re interested in the things Williams was most upset with Woods about, check out my 2015 breakdown of his book.
Anyway, Williams penned a piece for the Players Voice about Woods’ recent resurgence. Much of the piece is forward-looking. Williams believes Woods will win majors in 2019. However, there are other interesting morsels of note that could otherwise fall through the cracks.
Here are a few.
A notable 2008 U.S. Open quote
“That 2008 US Open was all about mind over body. I’d never seen Tiger in so much pain.”
“At one point in the second round he was visibly close to tears. He was a long way off the lead and I thought it was pointless to continue so I said to him, ‘Is it really worth it, Tiger?’”
“‘F— you,’ he replied. ‘I’m winning this tournament.’”
Why Tiger starts slow
“The other thing people noted about the PGA was the fact he was three-over par after just two holes on the first day and ended up losing to Koepka by two shots.”
“This is one trademark of Tiger’s game that I remember well. He often made average starts to tournaments. That’s because, like anyone who takes pride in what they do, Tiger gets very nervous at the start of an event and it shows.”
“He also knows all too well that you can’t win the tournament on Thursday but you can sure as hell lose it. That leads him to make a more conservative start to the tournament than some other players.”
The number of majors Tiger planned to win
“Back when we were working together we’d often have this conversation about how many majors he wanted to win. I believed that when he got to the target he wanted he would rack the cue – it’s just that we were always unclear on what that number would be.”
“Initially it was 20 and then he said one day, ‘No, Stevie, your favourite number is 21 and we’ll get to that’. I came back with: ‘No, you’re a great Michael Jordan fan, so why don’t we go for 23?’.”
Of course, Woods’ plans went up in smoke, as we know, to the extent that he never really expected to play golf again. It’d be interesting to hear if he, like Williams, believes he could one day hoist major trophy No. 19.
