‘He was remarkable’: Why Tiger Woods’ kind gesture shocked his ex-caddie

With more than a decade under his belt, a stretch that included many of Tiger’s greatest moments, Steve Williams was likely often shocked by the 15-time major winner’s exploits on the course. But it was one gesture of kindness that surprised Williams more than anything.

The former caddie revealed Tiger’s most surprising gesture from their partnership, along with a great anecdote from Woods’ epic 2000 season, in a new podcast interview.

Steve Williams reveals the Tiger gesture that surprised him most

While Williams carried his clubs and gave advice, Woods dominated the golf world from 1999-2011. Tiger won thirteen majors and dozens of PGA Tour events with Williams by his side, making them perhaps the greatest player-caddie duo in history.

Their relationship would not last, and their professional separation was often ugly, public and sometimes personal.

But at one recent appearance on the “Tee It Up Golf” podcast.Williams struck a different tone and shared fond memories of his time with Tiger.

When asked what it was like when he first started caddying for Tiger in 1999, Williams revealed a simple gesture Woods made every day that left him shaken: thanking him for his help.

“The thing that stood out to me the first time I caddyed for Tiger was after every round, good or bad, indifferent, whatever, ‘Thanks for your help today, Steve,’” Williams said.

Williams contrasted Tiger’s reaction after the round with his experiences with other pros, who could go cold after bad rounds.

“A lot of times when you’re looking for guys, and things aren’t going well, and you’re having a bad day, they don’t want to see you. They don’t want to talk to you. They don’t want to see you,” Williams said with a laugh. “But he, it was remarkable, thanked me every day for the job. And as a young guy under the pressure he had… I couldn’t believe it.”

Williams also spoke at length about Woods’ incredible desire to win.

“When you get someone who’s at the top, whether it’s Rory [McIlroy]Whether it’s Scottie Scheffler, it just comes down to the desire to want to win, and that’s where Tiger was just incredible,” Williams explained. “His desire to win was unbelievable to be honest. And his only measure of a successful week was when he won a golf tournament. If he didn’t win the tournament, it wasn’t a successful week. So it was very intense to work for someone under such pressure.”

He continued, “The amount of pressure that came with caddieing for Tiger was probably incomprehensible. But I was tired of trying to put it all together in the book and give people some idea of ​​what it was like to caddie for him.”

That book, Together We Roared: Alongside Tiger for his epic twelve-year thirteen-majors runwhich Williams co-wrote with Evin Priest, was released in April 2025.

Why Tiger Woods wasn’t satisfied with winning the US Open by 15 shots

Some of the best insider information Williams shared his interview with “Tee It Up Golf” involved Woods’ historic 15-shot win at the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach, his first of four consecutive major victories dubbed the ‘Tiger Slam’.

Williams said that despite dominating the competition at a historic level, Tiger was “disgusted” by a few holes he played at Pebble Beach that week (Woods finished 12 under at Pebble; no other players finished under par).

Woods wanted to somehow perform even better at the next big competition, the 2000 Open Championship at St. Andrews. So shortly after signing his winning scorecard at Pebble, Tiger Williams issued an order.

“He said, ‘Stevie, I want you to go to St. Andrews, I’m going to play even better than I did this week. I want you to know the course as well as you can,’” Williams explained.

Williams then spent a week at the Old Course getting to know every nook and cranny. It turns out to be worth it.

“And to Tiger’s credit, if you asked me what was the best 72-hole event he played, it was that tournament [the 2000 Open at St. Andrews]. He didn’t hit him in one bunker and he didn’t miss a single shot. That was the best performance in the 12 years I caddied for him… it was incredible.”

Woods won the 2000 Open on the Old Course with a total score of 19 under, which at the time was the lowest score in major championship history. His margin of victory? Eight shots.

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