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Has Tiger's Caddie Gone Off His Medication?

Harry Longshanks

Harry Longshanks

ILikeBigPutts&ICannotLie
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Tiger's caddie, Steve Williams first raised my eyebrows a couple of weeks ago when I read a story where he defended Tiger's driving accuracy. When asked why Tiger misses so many fairways (PGA Tour statistics put Tiger at 59% fairways hit), Williams responded that he keeps his own handwritten notes on every swing Woods makes, and his stats show Woods hitting about 65% of fairways. To support his argument, Williams said:

For example, most of the courses we play will have a couple of driveable par 4s for Tiger. He might hit it in the greenside bunker, but it's a great shot, or he might hit a great tee shot that doesn't end up on the fairway and people think it's a missed fairway." Similarly, Woods might cut a sharp dog-leg with his driver on a par 5 or long par 4. It won't end up on the fairway, but might give him an easier shot to the green. The PGA might record a missed fairway, "but in my book it's a hit," said Williams. "Just like if he misses a green by two inches, but he knows he hit a great shot, so we count it as a green hit. While the PGA stats are accurate, it's not necessarily what we look at."
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It's a hit "in his book"??? Well, nice as that may be, it's not actually a hit just because you say it is. If accountants kept their books the way you do Stevie . . . well, they would be working for Enron. And besides, if everyone keeps their books that way, then everyone else's statistics go up as well, and Tiger is still low on the list for the fairways hit statistic.

But fine. Williams comments were a little odd. Quirky, if you will. But whatever.

Then a couple of days ago, Williams makes the following statements in an interview:
"Tiger had no right to win at Torrey Pines. He was told not to play. He had only two words to say about that f... y.., I'm winning that tournament.

"It was a phenomenal feat to get around in the condition he was in and win. Every day, he would get back to the motel and just collapse. He really wanted to win that tournament. I knew if he teed up on the first hole, he would get to 18."
​

Williams’s story about Mickelson is even better.

The pair were duelling for the lead in the third round. Tiger waved to a packed grandstand seating 5,000 people that bordered the 17th fairway. The crowd responded.

As a hush fell back over the crowd, a fan yelled out "Phil." No response from Mickelson. Again the fan yelled out "Phil." Again no response. The fan changed tack. "Hey, Mr. Mickelson."

When Mickelson turned and waved, the fan yelled out "Nice tits." The crowd erupted in laughter; Mickelson went double bogey, bogey and his tournament was over.
​

And Williams on Mickelson?

"I wouldn't call Mickelson a great player ... 'cause I hate the prick."
​
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Uhhhh, okay. Even if Mickelson is an ass, wtf is Williams doing saying something like that? It reflects poorly on him, on his employer, and on the PGA. He has put Tiger in a the very awkward position of now having to say something. If I'm carrying the bag of the world #1, and I'm making more bank than many of the tour players, I'm keeping my friggin mouth shut.

But it gets worse. The story about Mickelson? Untrue. It did happen, but it wasn't in 2008, it wasn't Torrey Pines, and it wasn't Mickelson. It was 2002 at Bethpage and it was Colin Montgomerie. So, in addition to lacking any judgment, Williams is a liar.

By the way, in addition to pointing out that the "tits" story was a complete fabrication, Mickelson issued a statement saying:

After seeing Steve Williams' comments all I could think of was how lucky I am to have a class act like Bones on my bag and representing me.
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Saw all that. It's like politics in August. Nothing's going on, it's the silly season, and they gotta fill newpaper space.

Dumb but so what. He's a caddy, not a rocket scientist or a diplomat.
 
Well not everything you read about is said the way the person said it, sometimes the reporter leaves out key words or how the person actually responed to the question he asked. Was part of a story for one of the courses that I worked for, only employee their and reporter asked me a question about the story and the next morning I was called into the city managers office to explain my comments in the paper....... But as a caddy for the #1 player in the world he should just keep his mouth shut......
 
Suprisingly enough, when Williams was called to verify his comments by the paper, he went on a bigger rant. The guy is a jerk, and always has been. Yahoo had a great article on this earlier today...Do not know if it is still up on the front page. He is a freaking caddy. Nobody goes to see the caddy, yet Big Stevie has wanted that for a long time.
 
TinCupTampa said:
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?categoryId=2630020&brand=null&videoId=3770630&n8pe6c=2
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It's interesting that the presenter in the above video seems to acknowledge that Mickelson isn't the most popular player. This sort of comment seems to arise again and again. Down here, all I get to see is the TV footage of him playing & then being interviewed post tournament where he's usually all smiles. Can someone help me with some background as to why Mickelson is so unpopular?
 
The other thing that bothers me about this story is the recurring theme that Mickelson is a jerk. I've heard it over and over again (who hasn't heard about FIGJAM?), but never has anyone provided a specific instance or story. It's always just "he's fake." And even that is just internet message board chatter. Now, I'm no Phil fan-boy, but I'm getting tired of the unsubstantiated accusations. If the guy is really a douche-bag, then I want to hear it from someone who is man enough to explain it. (And a caddie who makes up a story to bolster more generalizations is not sufficient . . . in fact, even in that story, Mickelson wasn't a jerk.)

I also seem to recall an article (by Rick Reilly I think) that talked about how all that "Phil is an ass" banter was crap, and that Phil is genuinely a nice guy and not fake.

EDIT: Looks like Brad and I were thinking the same thing. (But Brad types faster.)
 
i'm guessing he's not the most popular player to other players is because they know that the image the public sees(Mr. Nice-Guy,All-American) is not exactly accurate.
 
Harry Longshanks said:
The other thing that bothers me about this story is the recurring theme that Mickelson is a jerk. I've heard it over and over again (who hasn't heard about FIGJAM?), but never has anyone provided a specific instance or story. It's always just "he's fake." And even that is just internet message board chatter. Now, I'm no Phil fan-boy, but I'm getting tired of the unsubstantiated accusations. If the guy is really a douche-bag, then I want to hear it from someone who is man enough to explain it. (And a caddie who makes up a story to bolster more generalizations is not sufficient . . . in fact, even in that story, Mickelson wasn't a jerk.)

I also seem to recall an article (by Rick Reilly I think) that talked about how all that "Phil is an ass" banter was crap, and that Phil is genuinely a nice guy and not fake.

EDIT: Looks like Brad and I were thinking the same thing. (But Brad types faster.)
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Harry,
Rick Reilly is a jerk. I worked with him for 3 years and all he does is "bag athletes" that wont give him the time of day. He thinks its funny and it sells copy, so it is working, but when a guy does not agree to be interviewed by him, he bags him.

As for the Phil thing, I think a lot of it is bogus. I met the guy a few times in my previous career and it was in social settings. He was always a straight up nice guy to everyone that came around him.

But for every good report you hear a bad report, but nobody ever has any real proof that the guy has done anything wrong.

First he was a choker then he won. Then he was a gambler, but that didnt stick. Yet all the guy does is go out and bring some fun to the Ryder Cup with AK and he gets bagged for that too, calling him fake and saying he was not producing. Its overboard already.
 
Harry Longshanks said:
.... Now, I'm no Phil fan-boy, but I'm getting tired of the unsubstantiated accusations. If the guy is really a douche-bag, then I want to hear it from someone who is man enough to explain it.

I also seem to recall an article (by Rick Reilly I think) that talked about how all that "Phil is an ass" banter was crap, and that Phil is genuinely a nice guy and not fake.
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Given that Harry is Stateside & he doesn't know either, it concerns me that this recurring stuff about Mickelson might be jealous barbs that have been picked up by others to form a giant 'snowball' of negative comment about him. I'm not a Phil fan. I'm not a Phil hater. I like it when he's on his game. Although, I am concerned that he has dropped in rankings (form) because I love watching the top golfers compete for the prize. But I've never seen evidence of Mickelson throwing tantrums, storming out of interviews, throwing clubs, being rude to galleries etc etc.

Does anyone know of any instances of actual bad behaviour by Mickelson?
 
TheNewBrad said:
Does anyone know of any instances of actual bad behaviour by Mickelson?
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the closest i've seen were his veiled threats to the commissioner during an interview right after he won the Deutshse Bank last year. then again, other players were'nt happy either(Tiger!) with schedule.

i must say Phil is a bit too "shiny", hard to describe.(but i make it a point to watch him play,totally respect his game)


also, he uttered one of my most favourite quotes: "i am such an idiot". love that!
 
To state the obvious, I think Steve Williams owes Phil Mickelson an apology - as soon as possible. I'm sure that Tiger is very unimpressed. I saw a recent interview of Stuart Appleby on Australian TV and he was saying how Tiger Woods is such a normal and decent guy. That being the case, I'm sure Woods wouldn't tolerate the disgusting comments of Williams.

Re Mickelson, maybe others see him as some sort of 'lone wolf' and a guy who's not 'one of the guys'. If that is the case, well his detractors need to find something better if that's supposed to be valid criticism. Aside from trying to win the odd golf tournament, Mickelson is married with a family, so he may feel he has something better to do than to hang out and be 'one of the guys'.
 
TheNewBrad said:
It's interesting that the presenter in the above video seems to acknowledge that Mickelson isn't the most popular player. This sort of comment seems to arise again and again. Down here, all I get to see is the TV footage of him playing & then being interviewed post tournament where he's usually all smiles. Can someone help me with some background as to why Mickelson is so unpopular?
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Brad... that guy that did that column is Gene Wojciechowski. He likes to bash everything. I think I have read maybe 1 out 10 articles of his that I thought was a well written piece. A few years ago me and him had an email dialog that lasted a few months because I was sick of his particular bash topic. This is the first golf topic I have ever seen him cover so take it for what its worth. Most ESPN writers arent worth their weight in salt for that matter.

I think there are alot of Phil bashers out there... but then again there are alot of Tiger bashers as well. I have never seen Phil do anything that would classify him as a jackass. Personally... he cracks me up.
 
if you crossover into other sports, Wayne Gretzky had a similar problem. the guy was just too nice,always said and did the right things, yet there was this certain dislike for him by many players and fans. why?
 
Kind of like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.
 
I think the 'green-eyed' critics also like their target to lose, so it gives them something to 'put the boot in' about. Tiger Woods consistently winning keeps them more silent about him than the others. It'll be interesting if Tiger's still knee affects his play when he returns (or his break has the same effect that it did for Ernie Els). Expect critics to come out of the woodwork in that situation.
 
wait a minute, don't the Aussie's have a natural dislike for New Zealanders? you picking on Steve there,Brad?
 
NorthVanMike said:
wait a minute, don't the Aussie's have a natural dislike for New Zealanders? you picking on Steve there,Brad?
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No ... not really. No more than Canada vs USA. :wink:
 
NorthVanMike said:
lol. ok, i'm just going by what the Kiwi at work tells me.
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He's right about the rivalry. There's a lot of them in Australia. They like beating us. We like beating them.

The funny thing is that other English speaking nationalities can't distinguish our accents. I can usually identify someone as a Kiwi after half a dozen words.
 
Development.

Woods ‘disappointed’ in caddie’s comments - 12/15/2008

By Associated Press THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. –Tiger Woods said he was disappointed by his caddie’s disparaging comments about Phil Mickelson in New Zealand newspapers.

Steve Williams was quoted in the Taranki Daily News as saying he wouldn’t call Mickelson a great player “because I think he’s a (expletive).” When contacted by another New Zealand newspaper, Williams confirmed making the comment.

“I was disappointed to read the comments attributed to Steve Williams about Phil Mickelson, a player that I respect,” Woods said in a statement Monday. “It was inappropriate. The matter has been discussed and dealt with.”

Williams began working with Woods in the spring of 1999 and has been on his bag for 13 of his 14 majors.

Mickelson’s management company issued a statement Sunday evening to respond to what it called “grossly inaccurate and irresponsible statements” by Williams. It included a comment from Mickelson.

“After seeing Steve Williams’ comments, all I could think of was how lucky I am to have a class act like Bones (Jim Mackay) on my bag and representing me,” Mickelson said.
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Of course that is what he would say. He is a media machine.
 
It was great dissembling:

“I was disappointed to read the comments attributed to Steve Williams about Phil Mickelson, a player that I respect,” Woods said in a statement Monday. “It was inappropriate. The matter has been discussed and dealt with.”

Tiger isn't saying he's disappointed that Williams made the comments. He's not even agreeing that he made them.

You got to hand it to him (or his publicist) for weaseling like that.
 
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