If you’ve followed Tiger Woods’ golf career for more than five minutes, you know that he quite often refers to “we” when crediting his success and failure on the course. So his Sunday post-round comments at the U.S. Open regarding caddie Steve Williams were, at the very least, noteworthy.

(Don’t read too much into Tiger’s comments - or this photo)

When talking about “mistakes that cost us a chance to win the Open,” Woods singled out Williams for poor club selection on the 10th hole. It was a bogey on that hole that effectively signaled the end of contention for the golfer yesterday.

Woods to the gathered media Sunday:

“I didn’t know the wind was down. I thought it was more a crest and that brought the right side into play. Read more…

In a March 21 interview, Kelly Tilghman of The Golf Channel asked Tiger Woods about media reports that indicated members of his “inner circle” knew of “misdoings“.

Woods:

That is not true, it was all me. I’m the one who did it, I’m the one who acted the way I acted, no one knew what was going on. I’m sure if more people would have known in my inner circle they would’ve, they would’ve stopped it…or tried to put a stop to it but I kept it all to myself.

Larry Dorman of the NEW YORK TIMES follows up with Woods about that statement, which based on hard evidence presented by alleged Woods mistresses, appears to be untrue.

In a statement to Dorman, Woods said:

“No one is responsible for my behavior but me. Even though there were times when I deceived various people in my organization, most were simply told little to nothing and kept in the dark. Obviously, I did this to avoid owning up to my actions. I expressed regret for that manipulation because the fault is mine alone and so is the blame.”

So is Woods now intimating that members of his “inner circle” may have unwittingly aided in the execution of his extramarital affairs?

Yes. Read more…

Monday Robert Lusetich of FoxSports.com was the first to bring up the possible ouster of Tiger Woods caddy Steve Williams.

A high-profile golfer has been laying bets that Williams would be axed and replaced with Billy Foster, a well-respected Englishman who caddies for Lee Westwood.

Foster, who said last week that he knew nothing of any such plan, filled in for Williams at the 2005 Presidents Cup so Williams could be with his wife, Kirsty, as she gave birth to their first son.

In the same piece, Williams confirmed to Lusetich that he will work The Masters, but now more speculation from a credible source is percolating that Williams will be replaced after Augusta. Veteran golf reporter Ryan Ballengee:

Steve Williams made no affirmation beyond Augusta National, and there is increasing talk that Tiger could be making a change on the bag sooner than later. 

One indication from a source was that Fred Couples’ long time man, Joe LaCava, could be plucked by Woods to replace Stevie.

Of late Williams has continued to be weighed down by allegations that he knew of Woods’ extramarital affairs. He’s repeatedly (sometimes angrily) denied such claims, most recently leveled by alleged Woods mistress Joslyn James.

Today James produced an email she claimed was received from Tiger Woods Design President Bryon Bell confirming travel arrangements for her that helped facilitate a tryst with Woods in Charlotte in 2007:

Bell, who has known Woods since childhood and oversees his golf course design company, has also been cited via documents obtained by TMZ.com as enabling a meeting between Woods and Rachel Uchitel in Australia. That hookup is what produced the NATIONAL ENQUIRER story that ultimate brought down Woods. Read more…

Adult film performer Joslyn James, who recently released a series of sexually graphic text messages alleged to have been sent to her by Tiger Woods, guested on a New Zealand radio show today to talk about her alleged relationship with Woods and his Kiwi caddie Steve Williams.

During the interview, James intimated strongly that she had met Williams on at least once occasion. Williams subsequented denied her claim to Robert Lusetich of FoxSports.com today.

Excerpts from the interview: Read more…

Will Swanton of the SYNDEY MORNING HERALD reports that Tiger Woods caddy Steve Williams has shot down the MELBOURNE HERALD-SUN’s report that Woods would return to golf at The Accenture on Feb. 15.

(Williams has also denied knowing of Woods infidelity)

Williams said, ”The stories stating Tiger will return at the matchplay have no truth to them.” Read more…

Ryan Ballengee at the excellent golf blog WaggleRoom.com finds ESPN video of Tiger Woods criticizing Michael Vick in 2007 for waiting too long to apologize to the public about his dogfighting operation.

“If you made that big a mistake, you’ve got to come out and just be contrite, be honest and just tell the public that ‘I was wrong.’”

“Waiting a long time got a lot of people polarized. … If he would have come out earlier, he would’ve diffused a little more of it.”

In case you think that’s actually an SNL script, there’s video of Woods making the comments after the jump - plus a very interesting new tidbit about Woods caddy Steve Williams.

Read more…

Tuesday Tiger Woods caddy Steve Williams issued this press release:

“I do not have any personal knowledge of anything in the reports related to the Tiger Woods’ stories. Kirsty and I give our heartfelt wishes to Tiger, Elin, Sam and Charlie and hope this gets put to rest soon.”

That was the only comment from Williams the past month about the extramarital scandal involving his boss. But today, for whatever reason, Williams felt the need to further distance himself from Woods’ philandering - via the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD.

Williams in his interview with SMH attempted to lay out a case why he didn’t know about Woods’ affairs. Hopefully he cc’d the remarks to Elin Nordegren, since her perception of his denial is what may decide his future employment with Woods. Read more…

The Auckland-based NEW ZEALAND HERALD reports a statement made today by the caddy of Tiger Woods, Steve Williams.

“I do not have any personal knowledge of anything in the reports related to the Tiger Woods’ stories. Kirsty and I give our heartfelt wishes to Tiger, Elin, Sam and Charlie and hope this gets put to rest soon,” he said, referring to his own wife and Woods’ immediate family.

Considering the alleged scope of Woods’ reported affairs, I think most of us have the same, reasonable reaction to Williams’ statement.

Read more…

All golf fans know how close personally and professionally Tiger Woods is to his caddy, Steve Williams. The two are together on the course and the road for months at a time and have developed a seemingly unassailable bond. (Unlike Woods’ marriage.)

(Inset Photo Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Based on what we now know about Woods’ alt-lifestyle, is it not reasonable to believe that Williams knew about Woods’ infidelity? And if Woods’s wife Elin Nordegren made that reasonable assumption, would she want Williams working with her husband in the future? The same Williams who probably knew of Woods’ dalliances and kept it secret from her? Read more…

Some people will tell you that they’re just fine consuming their office workers right from the cubicle, where they’ve been sitting still for years and letting their muscle tone waste away while dumping any ol’ crap from the vending machine in their feeding drawers.  However, the conscientious person with a taste for fine corporate drone will always opt for the free-range office worker that gets out into open spaces for hours at a time.

Also, they’re much better if you opt to let them marinade in a combination of light beer and rainstorms, freeing them to bray at the passersby.  That’s what happened at the U.S. Open this weekend and the results were Long Island charmers fresh from their jobs in the import/export business taunting Tiger Woods and friends ruthlessly and relentlessly at Bethpage Black.  And that’s nothing compared to what happened at Churchill Downs Friday night.

Read more…