Notes and Quotes from Bridgestone
Is ex-caddie calling Tiger Woods a liar? – Bridgestone Invitational
AKRON, Ohio – Tiger Woods fired Steve Williams, his faithful caddie through 13 major championships, early in July, and said he did it in person. Williams gave an entirely different account Sunday, after caddieing Adam Scott to the Bridgestone championship.It seemed that Williams, in polite language, was calling Woods a liar. Woods could not be reached for his rebuttal.
The following are excerpts from a verbatim transcript from Williams’ interview:
Question: (Inaudible)
Williams: You’ll have to ask Tiger that. I was absolutely shocked that I got the boot, to be honest with you. I’ve caddied for the guy for 11 years. I’ve been incredibly loyal to the guy and I got short shifted. Very disappointed.
Q: How did it happen? How did you find out?
Williams: He just called me up when I asked him to go and caddie for Adam, and he didn’t agree with it, and thought it was time for a break.
Q: The conversation that you had, the phone call, was there a consideration on your part – like did he say, if you do this, it’s over?
Williams: I was told on the phone that we need to take a break, and in caddie lingo, that means you’re fired, simple as that.
Q: Tiger said he did it in person at the AT&T National after the final round. Is that correct?
Williams: That is incorrect. I was told on the phone that we needed to take a break.
IF THIS WAS A WARM-UP, WHAT’S COLD? The Bridgestone was to be Tiger Woods’ warm-up for the coming PGA Championship. He’d pronounced himself fit and primed after an 11-week injury layoff. And the setting was perfect: Firestone South, where he’d won seven times, and harvested nearly $9.4 million.
So if this was his warm-up, what would cold look like?
Woods never figured in the chase as the youth movement took over. He was under par only once on the par-70 Firestone South, shooting 68-71-72-70 for a 1-over 281 total, finishing well up the track in a tie for 37th, 18 behind Adam Scott.
“Absolutely encouraged,” Woods said.
Woods did not hit a fairway from No. 4 until he did hit at the 17th, retreating to a 3-iron. Then he missed wildly at the 18th.
“I’m still struggling with my alignment,” he said, “and trusting the fact that the ball doesn’t shape as much as it used to. I don’t cut the ball as much, I don’t draw the ball as much. The pattern is much tighter. I’m used to seeing the ball move a lot more in my lines, so I’m still fiddling with that.”
Woods moved a bit deeper into the explanation.
“It’s just what happens when you swing properly,” he said. “The ball just doesn’t curve as much. I’m compressing the golf ball. My angles are better, and the deviation is less. But I have a hard time when I get out there because what my feel says is for the ball to shape that much, and it doesn’t, and then I start fighting it.”
The post-mortem for the tournament: He hit only 22 of 56 fairways, 39 percent, which ranked 76th in the 76-man field. He hit 47 of 72 greens in regulation, 65 percent, tieing for 26th, and he averaged 1.74 putts per hole, also tieing for 26th.
DESPERATE HOURS: It’s the measure of TV’s devotion to Tiger Woods that CBS was showing him playing the 16th Sunday while Adam Scott, the leader, was just teeing off. It’s not as though Woods were making a charge. He was 13 off the lead when he started the day, and was 14 off playing the 16th.
SPEAKING OF WARM-UPS: England’s Lee Westwood, No. 2-ranked in the world, was no threat through three rounds of the Bridgestone, then closed strong with a 5-under 65 for a 9-under 271, tieing for ninth. Maybe the Bridgestone would be his warm-up for the PGA Championship later this week. Someone noted that the Atlanta Athletic Club will be a tough test. “Yeah?” Westwood said. “Well, that’s good. The way I’m hitting the ball, the harder the better.”
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