Stunning Revelation About Tiger Woods’ Game Emerges This Week
Originally published by Athlon Sports
Though Tiger Woods is currently sidelined from competitive golf after undergoing Achilles surgery in March—his 14th major surgery—the legendary golfer remains a regular presence on the course, this time in a much different role: that of a proud father.
Woods was recently spotted at the Nicklaus Junior Championship in Tequesta, Florida, cheering on his 16-year-old son, Charlie Woods, who delivered an impressive performance, finishing sixth out of 122 competitors. Tiger has been a consistent presence during Charlie’s rise through the junior golf ranks, including being there to celebrate his first American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) victory in May.
But while Tiger’s focus lately has been on supporting his son, an incredible behind-the-scenes detail about his own playing days recently came to light.
During a recent episode of Golf.com’s “Subpar” podcast, Woods’ longtime former caddie, Steve Williams, revealed a surprising strategy he used throughout their time together: he deliberately gave Tiger the wrong yardages on the course.
“One thing I always noticed with Tiger was how much adrenaline he’d have when he got fired up,” Williams said. “He’d start walking faster, talking faster—everything would just speed up.”
To account for that rush of adrenaline, Williams explained that he routinely adjusted the distances he gave Woods, knowing the added energy would make him hit the ball farther.
“If it was 160 yards and it should be a 9-iron, I’d tell him it was 170,” Williams said. “I was constantly tweaking the yardages to match the way he was feeling—his energy just kept building and building.”
Williams even did this on par-3 holes, intentionally telling Woods it was a 6-iron shot when it was really a 7-iron distance. He admitted it took some guts to mislead one of the greatest players in the history of the game.
“I had to be incredibly alert, but I got really good at it,” Williams recalled. “I remember one final round at Bay Hill during one of Tiger’s victories—I didn’t give him a single correct yardage the whole round.”
Eventually, Tiger caught on to what was happening.
“He brought it up at some point—asked me about it,” Williams said. “And I remember him saying, ‘Just keep doing it. You know what you’re doing.’”
It’s just one more remarkable insight into the high-stakes precision—and trust—that defined the Tiger-Williams era and helped power one of the most dominant runs in golf history.