In the aftermath of Adam Scott’s impressive win in the WGC Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone CBS did the rarest of things, they decided to interview the winning caddy.  So Stevie Williams had a microphone in front of him and a world wide audience to which to crow that of the 140+ wins he has had as a caddie, 13 of them majors with Tiger Woods, “this is the most satisfying win I have ever had, there’s no two ways about it”.

His guy played flawlessly today with four birdies on the back side posting the low score of the final round and there is little doubt that Stevie was the elixir that kept Scott relaxed and focused helping him hold off a horde of young talent nipping at his heels.  Williams is one of the most accomplished caddies in the modern era, having worked successfully with Greg Norman, Raymond Floyd, and Mr. Woods and deserves a good deal of credit for helping Scott get to the finish line with the championship in hand.

While Scott was blistering the field with 21 birdies and only 4 bogies over four days, Tiger only broke par the first day and had 11 bogies and 2 doubles on the way to a mundane T-37 in the event, a full 18 shots behind Scott’s winning score of 17 under.  Tiger’s driving accuracy was 76th in the field of 76 and his putts per round stat was T43rd-not the winning combination he was looking for in his first competitive appearance in three months.

But I doubt that it was his role in Scott’s competitive revival that Stevie was referring to as the source of his satisfaction today.  He was clearly taking great pleasure in thumbing his nose at his former employer as if to say to Tiger, that hill you have to climb is going to be much steeper without me by your side.

The $140,000 share Stevie gets from this win will certainly make the steak taste very savory tonight, but I think it is the just desserts delivered to Tiger’s table that will sustain that sly grin on Stevie’s face for a good long while.

August, 2011