liams says. He would tell that person Woods was working on something in his swing and ask them to come back later or when he was finished practising. Constantly, fans, volunteers and officials would tell Woods random stories – they’d played with him in the pro-am the previous year or they’d watched one of his victories in person – or a tournament di- rector would want to greet the event’s draw card. “If Tiger talked to everyone, he wouldn’t have time to hit a single golf ball,” Williams says. “He was the ultimate professional. He was there to get work done.” Woods also had a deeply ingrained pet peeve: the click of a camera’s shutter going off during his swing. Williams needed to be on constant alert for photographers attempting to take swing sequence photos for newspapers and magazines. “Some- times guys would be hiding in the distance taking photos, and I’d have to be very quick to hear and locate where that was coming from,” Williams says. Woods also became frustrated if a path he was tak- ing at a tournament became obstructed by swaths of fans. As well, he’d often exit a car and a crowd of people would be waiting in the parking lot for pictures and signatures. “The smoother you could make the journey from A to B for him, the better it was going to be for everybody,” Williams says. “It was stressful, but it was also the job I signed up for, no question.”
WILLIAMS HAD NEVER HEARD OF THE TERM. “I’M GUESSING THAT MEANS 30 MINUTES AFTER DAWN?” THE GATEKEEPER One of Williams’ duties was to create a bubble around Woods, so he could get in quality practice on the range. Woods was rigorously disciplined, and the range was his office. His looper needed to keep people away politely, regardless of who wanted to chit- chat. “Tiger had a signal; he would take a slight peek out of his peripherals to see who it was, and he would flick his head to indicate he wanted me to ask them to leave but in a friendly manner,” Wil- “Exactly,” Woods grinned. Woods relished practice rounds at Sawgrass without thousands of fans asking for autographs and taking photos of him walking between greens and tee boxes. He could conserve energy. Williams also got a good look at the course when nobody was around; he and Woods could see the entirety of each hole and its landscape without crowds. Williams found it soothingly peaceful; there was often mist in the air and fog coming off ponds on golf courses early in the morning. There was a fly in the ointment, though. Often, Woods would play practice rounds before the su- perintendents, who already woke at the crack of dawn, had started work. “We’d have to wait on each hole as they cut the fairways or greens,” Wil- liams says.
Excerpted with permission from the book TOGETHER WE ROARED by Steve Williams and Evin Priest, published by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Copyright © 2025
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 101
JUNE 2025
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