Steve Williams was one of golf's most recognisable caddies during his time working with Tiger Woods before the pair had a very public falling out
06:00, 17 Jan 2026
When golf legend Tiger Woods dominated the sport around the turn of the century, caddie Steve Williams earned himself a hefty pay packet for his role. For a while, it looked as though Williams' record of the highest earning caddie would never fall - but that could soon change.
Williams, a New Zealand native, enjoyed a 12-year working relationship with Woods at the peak of the American's powers. His fortune was reported at $20million, a sum which is equivalent to £14.9m today.
Woods won 13 of his 15 major championship titles with Williams by his side. The only exceptions are his first Masters win in 1997 and his sensational victory at the same tournament 22 years later.
By the time Woods won his 2019 title at Augusta, Joe LaCava had taken over as his caddie. Williams' huge net worth remains the highest in the business but is now under threat, with Scottie Scheffler's caddie Ted Scott catching up fast.
Woods and Williams enjoyed a fruitful relationship for more than a decade but things went south dramatically in 2011. Woods publicly announced his decision to part ways after Williams caddied for rival player Adam Scott at the US Open that year when he missed the tournament.
READ MORE: Tiger Woods welcomes the "incredible" return of Brooks Koepka to the PGA TourREAD MORE: Tiger Woods' son Charlie made 'I'm broke' claim as his true net worth emerges"Adam heard Tiger pulled out and wondered where I was. I phoned Tiger about it and he said, 'No problem,'" Williams told PGATour.com in 2014. "After some thought, though, he didn’t agree with it. Tiger changed his mind.
"Well, I’d already told Adam I would be there. I wasn’t prepared to ring Adam up and say I can’t do it. I’m a man of my word. I had no idea I was going to get fired over it.
"I also hadn’t worked a lot. Not that I needed the money, but I wanted to work. I was told [by Tiger] after US Open that I no longer had a job and it’s as simple as that."
Williams would later address the matter again in a 2021 documentary about Woods' career. "He had his agent call and he said, 'If you go and caddie for your friend, that will be the end of your time caddying for Tiger,'" he said.
"I thought there was no way the guy is going to fire me. But a couple of days after the tournament I got the phone call to say our time had ended. I believe in my own heart I gave 100 per cent when I was caddying for Tiger the entire time I was with him, and for him to fire me over that kind of thing, I found that pretty unusual."
He added: "When he fired me, I thought he was firing me as a golf caddie and not as a friend. Tiger was the best man at my wedding, I didn't think we'd have no communication for the rest of our lives.
"That just didn't even enter my mind. To this day I find that a hard pill to swallow. Someone you spend 13 years with, with all your time and all your effort, and the guy can't even speak to you."
Since Williams' retirement, fellow caddie Ted Scott has been racing up the rankings when it comes to net worth. While his exact earnings have not been made public, the PGA Tour standard of 10 per cent of prize money when their player wins, and five to seven per cent for lower finishes, has allowed estimates to be made.
According to calculations from Golf Monthly, those numbers could well have seen Scott rake in more than $7m (£5.2m) across 2024 and 2025 combined. He's worked with world No. 1 Scheffler for a number of big wins, including victories at the Open and PGA Championship in 2025, and given his relative youth at 29, there's plenty of time for his right-hand man to overtake Williams.
The Kiwi, meanwhile, has temporarily come out of retirement to work with Australian pro Anthony Quayle. “Anthony’s had a lot of experience and he’s got the great opportunity this year of playing on the DP World Tour,” he told Australian Golf Digest.
“It’s a first time experience for him and he’s got the talent and ability. If I can pass on any information that might assist him in his journey, it’s worth it. I don’t look at it from the results standpoint these two weeks, it’s about what he can get out of me and to encourage him to fulfil his potential.”