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/ Ralph Ellis / 21 July 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Wililams and Woods in happier times
"Williams may be off the Woods bag now, but somebody else will pick it up and start collecting those ten per cents."
Tiger Woods has parted company with his long serving (suffering?) caddy but, as Ralph Ellis explains, it's still too early to write off the former-world number one.
Quiz question: Name New Zealand's most successful sportsman. Maybe it would be Richie McCaw or Mils Muliaina who both have 94 caps for the All Blacks? Then again Jonah Lomu would have to be the most iconic rugby player from the Islands. In cricket Richard Hadlee probably comes top of the list.
Wrong all round. The Kiwi who's made the most money from sport is a golfer who has never swung a club in anger at a major competition. Steve Williams has picked up a fortune out of caddying for Tiger Woods - estimated at around £20million as his take from 10 per cent of the former world number one's prize money.
No more. Woods has just ditched the man who carried his bag for 13 of 14 Major wins. It's a split that's been on the cards since Williams, whose wife was close friends with Tiger's ex Elin, made comments last year about his boss's personal life as his world was unravelling.
Williams will now go full time with Australian Adam Scott, for whom he worked at the US Open and The Open. Meanwhile the top caddies are already lining up to see who gets the gig to replace him. Dustin Johnson's caddie Joe LaCava is thought to be the man Woods wants, although ironically the other name in the frame is Scott's former bagman Moline Navarro.
At Sandwich, Scott was full of enthusiasm for the contribution he thought Williams could make. After two days, when the Aussie was one under and in contention, he was telling we reporters: "Steve's got experience and if he can say the right word here, or pick the right club there, it could make all the difference." Sadly it didn't, as he finished up tied 25th and seven over. The conclusion is that however good a caddie Williams was for all those years, it was Tiger's golf that really made the difference!
Betfair's market doesn't fancy their chances at the USPGA either - Scott is an outsider at [70.0]. So the big question remains when Tiger will return and just how good he'll be when that happens. He is now as short as [1.02] in the Specials market to go another year without winning his 15th Major and the people who backed that back in January at even money are sitting pretty.
I'm not sure that even if Woods does return to play in the USPGA he'll be ready to win. But I do fancy laying him to finish the year without a PGA Tour victory at as low as [1.3]. Now down to 20 in the latest world rankings, there's so much pride at stake for him, and the man who will make the biggest difference to Tiger is not his caddy, but his coach Sean Foley who has been remodelling his swing to put less stress on his knees. Foley's been doing that for nearly a year now, and according to his other current star pupil Justin Rose that's about the amount of time it takes for swing changes to take effect.
Williams may be off the Woods bag now, but somebody else will pick it up and start collecting those ten per cents. There could yet be more big money to be earned.
Five things you might not know about Adam Scott
1. Born July 1980 in Adelaide, dad Phil was an ex pro golfer whose career was spoiled by a motorcycle accident when he was 19. He then ran a company called Mascot golf that manufactured wooden drivers, fairway woods and putters.
2. Mum was also a single figure handicap golfer, so Adam got the bug. He was 13 the first time he beat his dad by scoring under 70 at their local club.
3. Greg Norman helped mentor his early career and advised him to play the European Tour before going to America. He lived in London for seven years and developed a passion for architecture and design. Sir Norman Foster is his favourite.
4. Voted in the top five for a magazine poll to find the "sexiest male golfer", he has dated Ana Ivanovic since splitting with long time girlfriend Marie Kojzar and Maria Sharapova has said she has fantasies about him
5. He's got homes on Australia's Gold Coast and in Crans sur Sierre in Switzerland where he's neighbours with Sergio Garcia - although he says they've never both been there on the same day.
We may have seen some recent shocks at the Majors but the Senior British Open tends to be dominated by the game's elder leading lights. Paul Krishnamurty weighs up a stellar field for this week's event....
Ralph Ellis explains why the likes of Lee Westwood will have to put up with questions about his world ranking until he wins at least one Major....
Mr Woods has shown that golf is still his no.1 priority but while he searches for his A-game, Westwood, Donald et al are the best bets for major glory...
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