Steve Williams Wrote the Wrong Book

You have likely already heard that PGA caddie, Steve Williams, released an e-book entitled “Out of the Rough” this week.  You have also likely already heard that in the book he does not have anything very nice to say about his former boss, Tiger Woods.  Very specifically, Steve Williams essentially claims he often felt like Tiger’s “slave” while caddying for the professional golfer from 1999 – 2011.  I won’t even begin to dive into the absolute absurdity of that particular comment.

The Australian’s autobiography is likely to do one of two things; either re-enforce your dislike for Tiger Woods or re-ignite your defense of the golfer.  It seems in the world of social media, and golf for that matter, there is little room for nuance any longer—you either love Tiger or hate Tiger.

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Now, you are more than welcome to head over to Amazon and drop the fifteen bucks for Williams’ “life story,” but I thought I’d do everyone a favor and provide a kind of “Cliff’s Notes” of his career as a caddie.

• First, he’s an equal opportunity hater.  In addition to Tiger, Williams also hates Sergio Garcia and Vijay Singh.  He has been very public about his disdain of Phil Mickelson, once being quoted as saying “I wouldn’t call Mickelson a great player, ‘cause I hate the prick.”
• When asked to explain his gloating after Adam Scott’s win at Bridgestone in 2011, he explained, “My aim was to shove it right up that black a******.”  He said this on a stage, during a dinner.
• He once wrestled away a $7,000 camera from a fan and threw it into a pond because he took a picture of Tiger Woods.  Needless to say, he’s actually well known for his bullying.
• He also earned roughly $10 million caddying for Tiger Woods.

Steve Williams had a chance to write a book that could have actually mattered.  He could have described what it was like coming up the ranks as a caddie, himself.  After all, this is a guy who was on the bag for Peter Thomson at age 14 and left school at age 16 to become a full-time caddie on the European Tour.

This is also a guy who was riding shot-gun during one of the most historic times in golf and he could have taken us on that ride.  There are very few people that could have given, not just Tiger Woods fans, but all golf fans, that level of insight into that era of the game.

Imagine reading what it was like going on that run of Majors that few of us had ever seen, from the perspective of the caddie.  He was there for the entire, meteoric rise.  He was on the bag for thirteen of the fourteen major wins, the big Nike contract, and so much more.  It could have been such a great read.  One that could easily have been made into a movie.

But alas, Steve Williams went the lazy, tabloid, shock-value route.  He never really intended to tell us anything about the life of a caddie, or what it was like caddying for one of the greatest golfers to have ever played.  He went with what is essentially a click-bait, mud-slinging book about nothing.

Wrong club, Steve Williams.

Cover Photo via Amazon