Lee Westwood weighed in on Steve Williams this morning, criticizing CBS for giving him the caddie forum to rip his old boss, Tiger Woods.
“I thought there was no relevance to the interview other than to have a good dig at Tiger Woods in the ribs, putting him on TV,” the World No. 2 said in his PGA media center interview. “It’s blatantly obvious that he’s a fantastic caddie, because he’s won with all different kind of players. I just didn’t see the point in putting him on TV. Obviously he does a good job. And there’s obviously a bit of friction there. So, what’s the point?”
Westwood said he “probably” would have had a talk with Williams if he was his caddie. As it is, Westwood’s man, Billy Foster, was at the top of Woods’ wish list as Williams’ replacement. Luring him away, however, is proving difficult
“Billy's great, because we get on so well,” Westwood said. “We’re friends and we can chat out there and he can draw my attention away from the round when my mind doesn’t need to be on it. He can also count, which is a big advantage . . . and he’s got a lot of experience. He’s been out here, getting on for 30 years, I think. He’s seen a lot of things, caddied for a lot of good players and been in a lot of tricky situations.
“Between us, it works pretty well. We don't get surprised very often.”
Then he added, as a dig, “And he interviews well.”
When asked what makes a “great” caddie, Westwood replied, “It’s more what they don't say than what they do say. It’s such a psychological and mental game, golf, that the smallest wrong thing at the wrong time can distract you from what you’re trying to achieve.
“Probably the best caddies are the smartest ones and the ones that are switched on mentally more than some of the others maybe,” he went on. “It helps to have been out a long time. I don’t know how long Steve has been out, but he caddied for Ray Floyd and Greg and Tiger and he will have been through most things with those players. I guess in his early days, like everybody, he will have said the wrong thing at the wrong time and maybe he will have learnt from that.
“When Adam got in certain situations or when Tiger got in certain situations, he will have known what to say or not what to say, more to the point.”
Luke Donald, who followed Westwood into the interview room, backed Williams, to a point.
"I think Stevie was given the opportunity to talk and he had the right to say what he wanted to say," he said. " The only disappointing thing that I found personally from it was there was no talk of how pleased he was about Adam winning. It was a little bit deflected away from Adam winning, and obviously the caddie does play an important role, but I think if he had mentioned something about Adam, this wouldn't have been an issue."
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