Another reason to dislike Williams
Steve Williams created quite a reputation as the bullying, camera-busting caddie during Tiger Woods’ decades of domination on the PGA Tour.
There were numerous instances of Williams reacting childishly to situations on any number of PGA Tour layouts across the country that easily made him the most disliked bag-toter in the business.
But he may have made a bigger jerk of himself when he decided to write a book about his days with Woods and included the following:
“One thing that really (ticked) me off was how he would flippantly toss a club in the general direction of the bag, expecting me to go over and pick it up,” Williams said. “I felt uneasy about bending down to pick up his discarded club, it was like I was his slave.”
Really?
While the job and job description of a caddie has changed over the years, one basic tenet has remained: Caddies are to show up, keep up and shut up.
Williams violated the last of those with that idiot comment. We don’t know actual numbers but this dope from down under made a small (or maybe not so small) fortune carrying the bag of the No. 1 player in the world.
No slave who ever worked endlessly during that awful era in our history ever earned a pittance. Williams issued a lame apology after the spam hit the fan when the quote was released, citing cultural differences in the meaning of the word.
I’ve never liked the guy and he just gave me another reason to validate that opinion.
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Golf Digest recently posted a list of eight courses that deserve a return to the majors and included on that list was Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier.
Laurel Valley is my choice as the most picturesque in Western Pennsylvania and it is on the short list with Oakmont Country Club as the best layouts in our area.
Laurel Valley provides a highly enjoyable golf experience, but has plenty of teeth with very tricky greens and four of the best par-3s you’ll see anywhere.
It was surprising to see Laurel on this list, not because it’s unqualified, but because there really hasn’t been any mention of the course regarding professional golf tournaments.
The Senior PGA Championship was held there is 2005, the PGA Tour’s Marconi Classic was held there in 2001 and the U.S. Senior Open was there in 1989.
The biggest events held there were the Ryder Cup in 1975 and the PGA Championship in 1965.
Being mentioned in Golf Digest’s list is pretty special for the club, even if there are no plans for a tournament.
It would be great to have another pro tournament in western Pennsylvania in addition to Oakmont’s place in the U.S. Open’s rotation.
The other courses on the list: Interlachen, Cherry Hills, Aronimink, Scioto, Chicago Golf Club, Prestwick and Royal Cinque Ports.
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Once the New Year arrives, prepare yourselves for an increased campaign of celebrating the return of golf to the Olympics next summer for the first time since 1904.
Sixty men and 60 women, professionals all, will compete in a 72-hole stroke play format competition for golf, silver and bronze medals.
The idea of seeing Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, etc., all play golf is always enjoyable.
For the life of me, however, I don’t get a couple things.
First, how will the elite PGA and LPGA players competing in another 72-hole stroke play event help grow the game?
Second, why wouldn’t Olympic officials set this up as a match-play format of some sort, pitting countries against each other? Something that would create some excitement other than just another run-of-the-mill stroke play event.
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Do you have an interesting story about your club or course or an individual who has done something special, let me know. Send your story ideas to mike.dudurich@gmail.com.
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Mike Dudurich is a freelance golf writer and also hosts The Golf Show on 93.7 The Fan, Saturday mornings from 7-8 during golf season. Follow Mike on Twitter at @MikeDudurich.