Woods' Caddie Should Pay for Showing Mickelson and Game a Lack of Respect

We live in troubled times — war, famine, economic collapse — so when it turns out that Steve Williams, Tiger Woods' caddie, has called Phil Mickelson a "prick" while speaking at a charity event in New Zealand it is wise not to approach the subject in apocalyptic terms. Nobody died.

Nobody lost their life savings; the world continues to revolve on its axis.

On the other hand Tiger Woods is the world's most famous sportsman. By definition this makes everything he says and does in a public forum newsworthy. He might not like the "intrusion" but it comes with the job and, let's face it, he is well remunerated for his troubles. It is also the case that a degree of scrutiny must apply to those in his immediate professional (as opposed to personal) circle, which is to say his caddie, Williams.

For those inclined to disagree consider this: what if Pat Rice, Arsène Wenger's admirable assistant at Arsenal, was a guest speaker at a charity event and called Sir Alex Ferguson a prick? What if he then made Ferguson the butt of an anecdote which subsequently turned out to be fiction? Would that be newsworthy? Of course it would.

Credit should be paid to Williams who, unlike countless others when confronted with their own embarrassing statements, did not deny saying what he said. Instead he expanded on it, adding in a subsequent interview: "I don't particularly like the guy [Mickelson]. He pays me no respect at all and hence I don't pay him any respect. It's no secret we don't get along either."

But while Williams emerges from all of this with his reputation for blunt speaking intact, he has exposed himself as someone who has read too much of his own publicity — the kind that portrays him, in the recent words of one golf publication, "as the man who will be remembered as the finest caddie of all time".

This ludicrous elevation to the pantheon is one of the perks of working for Woods, arguably the man who will be remembered as the finest golfer of all time. The money is pretty good too (Williams is famously described as the richest sportsman in New Zealand — a designation Dan Carter's accountant may take issue with). But best of all, carrying Woods' clubs means never having to live by the same rules as everyone else.

So it is that Williams has tromped around golf courses for years like a nightclub bouncer with toothache; throwing cameras in ponds, shouting at galleries and being off-hand with anyone who does not meet his, apparently high, standards of sycophancy.

He has also ignored the dress rules that apply to tour caddies, by the way. No doubt he finds these rules petty and demeaning (which they are), but the point is every caddie on tour finds them petty and demeaning yet they shrug their shoulders and get on with it, figuring the chance of leaving town with 10% of the winner's cheque is worth enduring the indignity of wearing a bib for 18 holes.

Not Steve Williams, the finest caddie of all time. The sad part of it all is not that he has been allowed to get away with this behavior but that he would choose to take advantage of the status that comes with his position. In doing so he shows a certain lack of respect to the tour and, more to the point, his colleagues in the caddieshack.

Yet if the aforementioned conduct might arguably be described as small beer, calling his employer's principal rival a "prick" is not. In the context of the world in which Williams operates it is a serious affront, not least because it raises the question of what the atmosphere will be like when Williams and Mickelson have to share a US team room during the Ryder Cup?

Tiger, we are informed, was "disappointed" with his man's comments. "The matter has been discussed and dealt with," the world No1 said in a statement, adding that Mickelson was a golfer "I respect". What was said in this discussion? How was it dealt with? Unless Woods abandons the habit of a lifetime and actually gives a forthright reply to questions he finds uncomfortable we will never know. What we do know, however, is that when the world No1 returns after injury sometime in the new year Williams will be at his side, as ever. No doubt some will find this to be a commendable act of loyalty on Woods' part but in truth it will be the ultimate act of contempt for a fellow professional, Mickelson.

If that sounds too apocalyptic, then ask yourself this: what would have happened if Mickelson's caddie, or any caddie working for a leading professional, had publicly insulted Woods in the same manner? The answer, of course, is the caddie would have been fired on the spot.