Steve Williams was on Tiger Woods’ bag for most of his major-championship victories, playing a key role in the 2000–2001 “Tiger Slam.” 

During that period, the two communicated off the course through handwritten notes!

Around nine months ago, Steve Williams appeared on the Dom Harvey Podcast, where he shared insights about his time caddying for Tiger Woods, including the handwritten notes they exchanged.

Williams explained that he was responsible for Woods’ clubs and would return them to Woods’ room at the end of the day.

“When I felt there was something meaningful to add to the day, we’d do these handwritten notes.” Steve Williams told Dom Harvey.

The next morning, when Williams returned to collect the clubs while Woods had already left for the gym or the golf course, “the note would be sitting there with the clubs.”

Despite Woods giving Williams a phone, they continued to communicate through handwritten notes containing feedback and instructions, as Williams did not use mobile phones and did not own one until the late 1990s.

These notes meant more than a simple exchange to Williams, “Those were special things. I’ve kept those notes; they meant a lot to me. There were some very powerful statements in them, some very reflective things.”

During the podcast, Williams recalled one particular handwritten note.

Steeve Williams and Tiger Woods' note exchange

At the 2006 WGC Match Play in Carlsbad, Stephen Ames spoke to the media before his match with Tiger Woods and said, “he [Ames] sort of thought he [Woods] was a bit overrated Tiger.” 

After those comments, Steve Williams left a note to Woods on the eve of the match that said, “Hey, tomorrow this is going to be a match that we want to take control of right from the first hole.” 

Woods won the match 9&8!

Written by

Aditi Singh

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu