Tiger Woods has lost his intimidation factor, ex-caddy says

SYDNEY (AFP) ― Outspoken caddy Steve Williams says former employer Tiger Woods has lost his intimidation factor, as the New Zealander revealed he will quit full-time golf this year.

Williams, who was sacked by Woods in 2011 after helping him win all but one of his 14 major titles, added that he had yet to reconcile with the world number one, but hopes to one day.

“There’s just personal things and differences of opinion about how things went down. He thinks one thing and I think another,” Williams, who now carries the bags of Australian world number two Adam Scott, told Fox Sports late Tuesday.

“I need to sort that out with him. But I haven’t had the opportunity sit down with him and iron out a few things, but it will happen at some stage.”

Williams was fired after Woods’ slide down the world rankings following the revelation that the American had a string of extra-marital affairs.

Since then, Woods has failed to win another major and Williams said it was because the intimidation factor had gone.

“He doesn’t have the intimidation factor anymore. That was a big thing, guys were quite intimidated by him but there is no intimidation anymore. That counts for a lot,” he said.

Williams switched to Scott after his dismissal, and has helped transform him into a major champion and the heir apparent to Woods’s world number one ranking.

But after a career that has also seen him caddy for Greg Norman and Raymond Floyd, Williams said it was time to slow down.

“Adam knows my intentions. He knows that 2014 will be my last year of doing it full-time so he knows that if I’m going to carry on in 2015 it will be on a limited basis,” Williams said.

“So we’re just trying to focus on having the best year that we can in 2014 and then we’ll discuss it at the end of the year.”

Williams said three-and-a-half decades on tour was enough.

“I think it’s my 36th year of continuous caddying, so 36 is a number that’s sort of synonymous with golf,” he said.

“I’ve just turned 50 and I just thought it was the right time. I’ve not had enough of the job, but I’ve certainly had enough of the travelling.

”So at the end of this year I might carry on a part-time basis or I might quit altogether.“