Steve Williams and Tiger Woods put together one of the most successful partnerships in golf.
Williams took over caddie duties for Woods in 1999, and their partnership lasted until 2011.
Williams was alongside Woods for 13 of his 15 major championship wins.
Despite a difficult split, the caddie has said he would be open to working with Woods again if given the chance.
Even after their time together ended, Williams has always spoken highly of the 50-year-old PGA Tour star.
He has described Woods as the best player he has ever seen, a statement that many would find hard to disagree with.
But there is something else Williams recently said that has raised more than a few eyebrows.
Steve Williams shares insight into Tiger Woods’ iconic 2000 season
Few people understand Woods quite like Williams, so his perspective on the 15-time major champion always draws interest.
That said, it is worth noting that Williams has a reputation for occasionally stretching the truth when talking about his former boss.
In his new book, Together We Roared, Williams spoke about what he saw as a key factor in Woods’ dominance during the early 2000s.
The “secret” came down to Woods being one of the first professionals to switch from wound to solid core golf balls. Most players back then were still using wound balls, which were seen as better for feel and control. The solid core versions offered more distance but were considered harder to control.
Williams added: “You would have to say it was worth one or two shots per round.”
That is a massive claim. Even half a shot per round is significant at that level, but one or two shots? That pushes credibility.
Woods averaged 67.79 during the 2000 season. If we follow Williams’ logic and take away those supposed extra shots per round, his average would have matched Stewart Cink’s tie for seventh place on the PGA Tour scoring list that year.
The numbers do not back up the claim. It feels like an overstatement from Williams, possibly even downplaying just how far ahead of everyone else Woods truly was at that time.
Reflecting on Tiger Woods’ remarkable 2000 campaign
Tiger switched to the Nike Tour accuracy ball in early 2000, and from there, everything fell into place.
Woods put together one of the best runs the sport has ever seen, winning nine times in just 20 starts. That included a clean sweep of the last three majors of the year.
His dominance was clear from the start. He won the US Open by a record 15 shots and followed that with an eight-shot victory at The Open Championship.
Tiger then capped off his season by winning the PGA Championship and carried that form into 2001 by taking The Masters at Augusta National.
That stretch gave him all four major titles at once, now known as the ‘Tiger Slam.’ It is an achievement that still stands out today.
The level of play he maintained over that stretch set a new standard for what dominance looked like in golf. The period between May 2000 and April 2001 remains unmatched.
Scottie Scheffler has shown similar consistency over the last two years, but he must maintain this level of performance for another decade to truly rival Woods’ achievements.
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