Trust Tiger's Caddie!

This week in sports we hear out of New Zealand that Tiger Wood’s caddie, Steve Williams, knew nothing of the Tiger’s nocturnal escapades. “I knew nothing, that’s my answer. I do not have to clarify or extend that answer; I knew nothing.” If this were Hogan’s Heroes then Williams would be Sargent Schultz. He knew nothing. Do you believe him?

I honestly do.

Williams went on to say he is angry and hurt like many others, but also frustrated so many thought he knew of the cheating and did nothing to grab the Tiger by the tail. “Every person believed that I should know or did know or had something to do with it,” he said. Instead, he was mad and upset when he heard the news, “I’m close with his wife and he’s got two lovely children and he let them down.” If he had known, maybe the man who helped Woods select a club and line up a putt could have helped him keep his home life on the right course and not out of bounds or in a hazard somewhere. But Tiger did not want to let him in on the secret of his wild side—why not?

Woods loves Williams and respects him as a colleague and friend. Williams loves Woods and has stood up to him on club selection at critical times in his career. But the reason Tiger Woods kept Steve Williams in the dark on his sex life is because Woods loved the way Williams looked at him. Everyone needs a few friends who see us the way we want to be—not the way we are. We need a few friends who inspire us to our highest and best—and who cheer us to reach lofty heights. I have a brother like that. He sometimes wonders why he is the last person to know a friend is an alcoholic or has a gambling addiction. It's not because he would be judgmental; it's because people like the way he sees them. He believes the best in folks and that optimism inspires and invigorates a soul.

Notice the kind of friend Williams aspires to be, “When you’re a true friend of somebody, that’s when somebody needs your support and needs you the most. That’s when you don’t walk away. Tiger’s one of my closest friends and he needs my support right now and I’d never think of walking away.” So while others make the jokes, point the fingers and talk of how the mighty has fallen, Tiger’s friend who sees Tiger the way Tiger wishes he was continues to stay loyal. “When a guy’s having a tough time, it is not up to me to beat him with a stick right now. He’s getting enough grilling from everybody else.”

The Bible says it this way, “A friend loves at all times, and there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 17:17, 18:24)

Tiger Woods is discovering that a friend who stands by you in the tough times is far more valuable than all the corporate endorsements his golf game ever lined up.