Woods Gets Rid of Steve Williams

I like Stevie Williams and do not think he is Tiger's problem nor do I think that firing him will make things any better. IMO he was the only stable thing Tiger had left. I guess he thinks otherwise. I wonder if Stevie will stay with Adam Scott? Only time will tell I guess.

To me, this was jaw dropping news.  Still can't imagine Tiger without Williams.

Sometimes you need a fresh start - that's all I think that it is.  It's like a baseball team who has a very good manager who's been consistent through the years, but sometimes you just need to mix it up.  Of course, the Padres let Bruce Bochy go, he came to the Giants and we won a World Series... so thanks San Diego.

Also, do remember that Tiger was a great golfer before Steve Williams was his caddy - at the end of the day he's the one swinging the club. 

Williams said he'll continue caddying for Adam Scott, which seems like a good match.

I also thought about it and it is good for Stevie because if he does caddie for Scott, he plays much morefrequently. Tiger only playing a handful of times doesn't give him as much opportunities for pay days like old times. It will probably work out for all in the long run.

Ayup, race car driving sure is expensive these days, what with gas prices so high and all those tires they go through. Stevie must be hurting for not taking home 6 figures from part time work over the last year or so. I like Stevie, especially for his honest and obviously personally written statement of "shock", but I don't feel sorry for him. He's had a good long run, become famous in his own right and lasted longer serving Tiger than anyone could have expected.

Did anyone else notice that Tiger's statement was "professionally" written? This, plus Stevie's "shocked" comment tells me there is more to the story. If Stevie's "one time" caddying for Scott was actually part of a transition plan, he would not have been shocked. One of the things I enjoy about Tiger is the argument that he "fixes things that ain't broke". While that side of the argument is obvious, Tiger's side always leads me to "yeah, but" thinking.

Word is Williams agreed to caddy for Adam Scott at the US Open *before* running it past Tiger... which is, well, I wouldn't blame Tiger for being pissed.  Williams comes off as a little ungrateful ... he's had the best caddy job of all time so him bitching about a year and a half of downtime is ridiculous.

So many people are hating on Tiger these days I'm going to start pulling for him... I'd actually love for him to become dominant again and be sort of a villain - and call people out.

Typical Tiger - makes a simple statement about a significant event and keeps all details private. Nothing wrong with that approach, we all should know just how private he is about all aspects of his life. Of interest is, supposedly, both Tiger and Steve received advice from their own camps to end the relationship and make a clean break from the past. Hank Haney was very critical of the lack of communication he received from Tiger during his time as swing coach, and, appears very happy to be free. One quote indicated that Steve has made approx. $9M over the relationship, assuming he was paid the 10% standard caddie fee, so it's easy to see why Steve was loyal.

But, I'm in the "no bid deal" club when it comes to the impact of a caddie change on Tiger's ability to win in the future. He won't play much this year, can try out several people as caddies and hope that in 2012 he is able to play on a more regular basis. His knee, his swing and his competition are the major hurdles, and, just maybe, his head.

The whole thing is business and it will all work out fine for all. They all have more money to burn,I know that is not the issue at hand, but once the first paycheck comes in all wounds will be healed in PGA land.  Jay, you won't change my stripes,always will be a Tiger fan. Cannot wait til' the Sunday Red shirt is at the top of the leaderboard again, it will happen!

But we'll miss the glare!!! 2006 Masters Wednesday practice round.

I'll definitely miss it but it is almost always certain that Hollywood couples will break up at some time.

Williams always wanted to be a caddie, and he still wants to be the best at his profession.  Good for him.  I can't feel sorry for the guy since he got paid $1 million per year for doing  what a bell hop does, with the exception of helping to read putts and figure out yardage.  He was paid well for working a few tournaments a year, and got to sepend more time with his family than most caddies on tour.  He should have no complaints.

I believe Tiger did him a HUGE favor. 

Heard a couple of the talking heads on the Golf Channel lobbying for a PGA Championship pairing of Tiger, Scott, and Furyk.  Now that would make for some TV ratings!  I'm pretty sure Tiger and Fluff get along fine now but it would still be an intriguing matchup.

Tiger is coming out of retirement next week at Firestone.  Expect the ratings to go through the roof if he's in contention on Sunday.

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Originally Posted by patmoore 

 

 

Tiger is coming out of retirement next week at Firestone.  Expect the ratings to go through the roof if he's in contention on Sunday.

This has to be a train wreck, right?? 

No.
 

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Originally Posted by keniski 

This has to be a train wreck, right?? 

Missed you by a day! I was there Tuesday's round that year.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikewil 

But we'll miss the glare!!! 2006 Masters Wednesday practice round.

 

Hope not, would love to see him do well and get back into competing again.  It would make it very interesting.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by keniski 

This has to be a train wreck, right?? 

I was actually there Tuesday thru Friday in 2006. Two practice rounds and the first two tournament rounds. I've been hitting the even # years. Next April will be my fourth trip to Augusta National-already looking forward to it (except for the daily drive from Columbia, SC to make lodging somewhat reasonable). I absolutely love the new practice facilities-much better than the old "range".

I want to try to make it to one of the rounds of The Deutche Bank Labor Day weekend. I have been away the last few years on Labor Day but will be around this year. I have never seen the Pros live, I don't know if it will make me more depressed or if it will motivate me to practice more. Let me say practice period. Time and family only allows me to get out once a week and I would rather rough(no pun intended) it on the course.

OK, let's start speculating!

Tiger hires his lifelong, best, forever friend ( and sometimes girlfriend facilitator ) as his caddie this week at Firestone, and, I presume next week at the PGA. He is making statements that his knee is feeling great, at long last, and he can walk and play without pain. Should be interesting to see if he has changed his downswing left foot movements that stress the knee. He only has a couple of weeks between stating he could not swing and his first PGA start, so I would not expect him to be competitive. He is sure of 4 competitive rounds this week, last year he finished one up from the bottom in same tourney. This week a guess would be to finish around 40 to 50 percent would be positive, assuming his knee holds up. Making the PGA cut, I say doubtful.

I still believe his goals are to become competitive in '11and win in 2012. Golf misses his ability to just make shots and dominate. I wish him well, and, hope that if he does not achieve his former status, that, it is not due to his knee.

@Living Proof... one huge benefit of all that time off the range and course you're forgetting is that Tiger has been putting and chipping non-stop... which may not be sexy but could yield major results.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keniski 

Missed you by a day! I was there Tuesday's round that year.
 

 

'06. On the prowl...

Mickelson skipping balls on 16. Can't remember who he was with. They did it simultaneously and of course Mickelson's skipped up onto the green about 20 feet from the pin. Remember watching him on the practice green thinking he looked like a guy in total control. Which he turned out to be that year.

Tried to post more pics from 06 but couldn't get them on. Oh well. 

His legs are broken down, or at least one of them, and that is never a good sign for an athlete in any sport as far as maintaining consistency. I do hope he plays well. He has been flogged, appropriately, but unfortunately if his golf is not spectacular there isn't much else to his public persona that is particularly endearing. The biggest casualty of his downfall was actually his large charitable foundation, which got slammed financially, but at least was something positive.

Interesting watching Tiger so far... he's swinging much easier and hitting the ball further than he has in recent years (in his own words he's hitting the ball as flush as he has in several years).  Maybe those swing changes are really starting to kick in... but I'm sure it'll take him a few rounds or more to get a handle on the added distance (he went long a number of times).

Agreed. His rhythm is much better, less dramatic head drop, and he doesn't seem to have that wild right-shoulder-high follow through as much as he did before. His distance control isn't great yet, but that will undoubtedly come as he actually plays in competition. His short game and putting clearly aren't up to what they were before. It will be interesting to see if those come back, since he is at the age when they never really did come back for a lot of the great players before him, putting in particular. We always assume that because of what he was, he will be that again, but there aren't that many historical examples of guys who had physical problems and great late careers other than Nicklaus (back) and Hogan (auto accident). Of course, those are the two guys in whose stratosphere he resides, so why not? He is going to need all of his old magic back to make a run at Nicklaus, because there are so many guys out there with great swings, huge length, and decent short games that when any one of them gets a good week off the tee and a hot putter they can win anywhere against anyone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaytierney 

Interesting watching Tiger so far... he's swinging much easier and hitting the ball further than he has in recent years (in his own words he's hitting the ball as flush as he has in several years).  Maybe those swing changes are really starting to kick in... but I'm sure it'll take him a few rounds or more to get a handle on the added distance (he went long a number of times).