Steve Williams picks out what ‘the biggest difference’ was between caddying for Tiger Woods and Adam Scott

Steve Williams had the best seat in the house for one of the greatest eras in golfing history after spending more than a decade as Tiger Woods’ caddie.

Tiger Woods won 13 of his 15 majors between 1999 and 2008. At one stage of course, Woods held all four majors at the same time after completing the Tiger Slam at the 2001 Masters.

It was Steve Williams who was on his bag throughout that period, with their partnership ultimately coming to an end in 2011.

The New Zealander began to work with Adam Scott shortly before his split with Woods. Soon after, it was announced that the pair would be working together permanently, with the high point coming at the 2013 Masters. Scott beat Ángel Cabrera in a playoff for his first major title.

Steve Williams outlines the biggest difference between caddying for Tiger Woods and Adam Scott

Woods and Scott are two of the best golfers of their era. Of course, Woods was significantly more successful, but the Australian’s longevity has been incredible. He is 40th in the world rankings and had a great opportunity to win the US Open just last month.

They appear to be similar players in terms of their characters on the course. Scott seems to give little away in the midst of a round, while Woods could completely lock in during the heat of the battle.

But it seems that Williams was crucial to helping Woods do that. Speaking to Subpar, he outlined the role which he felt was so important to his work with the 49-year-old.

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“When you are caddying for Tiger the biggest difference between caddying for Tiger and Adam Scott, was just trying to keep the distractions to a minimum,” he said.

“Tiger was a phenomenal player and created a lot of interest wherever he went but I wanted him to be on a level playing field with the other guys, so when he was on the range or putting green he was not distracted.

“Because every tournament he went to there were always these tournament directors that tried to entice players to come to their tournament. ‘Hey Tiger have you looked at our tournament? Where does it fit into your schedule? We can offer you a fishing trip here’. It was just keeping those guys at bay and trying to give him the same opportunity that someone else that’s not in his position when they come to the range to practice or putting green that he gets the same opportunity to not be disturbed.

“He always considered the golf course and the practice facility his office, his work place and I am only here to do my job. I would help him succeed in that.”

The tactic Adam Scott had for whenever he played alongside Tiger Woods early in his career

It is surely fair to say that Scott would have won even more had he not played in the same era as Woods. He has always had one of the most impressive golf swings of anyone who has played the game. And he has certainly given himself plenty of chances to win more majors.

Interestingly, Scott had a tactic for whenever he played alongside Woods in the early stages of his career to help him deal with the pressure of being paired with arguably the greatest talent the game has seen.

“Playing with Tiger early in my career was so difficult. He was incredible, intimidating, the crowd was moving, and I actually had to not watch him play when I played with him, that was my trick to be able to play my own game and not get influenced by Tiger-mania,” he said.

It seems therefore, that Williams was not the only one worried about distractions when Woods was playing.