Stevie takes the Bridgestone?

Most casual golf fans know that Adam Scott won this past week's PGA tour event, the WGC Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone in Ohio. Some may say word spread because Scott is an increasingly popular player on tour. Others say it's because it's a World Golf event, which carries extra prestige and prize money due to its importance to the global game of golf. Some even say it's because the Bridgestone is the precursor to the Tour's final major of the season, the PGA Championship, which begins this Thursday from Atlanta Athletic Club. Sure, you're entitled to your opinion, but do you want to know why everyone seems to know that Adam Scott won this past week? Two words. Stevie Williams. Right. That guy. Everyone knows or knew Stevie as the frightening caddy at the helm for Eldrick Tont Tiger Woods over the past decade. Stevie was on the bag for 13 of Tiger's 14 major championships (Mike "Fluff" Cowan worked the bag for Tiger at his historic first Major win at the 1997 Masters; he's worked for Jim Furyk since 1999 when Tiger and Stevie joined up). There seem to be only be two notable caddies on tour and Fluff is certainly not one of them. Stevie Williams as the guide to Tiger's mastery of the PGA tour during the last decade and Jim "Bones" McKay as the caddy for the ever popular Phil Mickelson. Other than those two, I can assure you that even a devoted golf fan as myself cannot readily name another caddy on tour. However, everyone is well aware of the few missteps that Tiger has taken these past 2 years and I'll skip the details since they've been overstated millions of times but almost no one could have really predicted Tiger firing Stevie Williams. The story goes that Tiger was forced to miss the US Open and the British Open due to injury so Stevie asked Tiger if he could do some work for Adam Scott, a fellow Aussie, while he waited for Tiger to heal. Tiger apparently said yes to the request and that was that. However, it soon came to light that Tiger had actually fired Stevie a few weeks prior to the US Open at the AT&T National, Tiger's annual event. Long story short, Tiger is now taking applications for new caddies while Stevie now permanently works for Scott. Now, everyone knew Tiger was coming back last week to play the Bridgestone as prep for the PGA Championship and to try and make a final push for a place in the final 125 for the FedEx Cup. Tiger's story dominated the lead up to the tournament and he even played moderately well in the first round, shooting a -2 68, but he would falter the next 3 rounds and finish T37 and +1 for the tournament. End of story, right? Wrong. Scott absolutely dominated the field, shooting a -8 62 on Thursday en route to a commanding 4 shot win on Sunday. Yet, Scott's incredible play was overshadowed. Overshadowed by who, you ask? Well it wasn't Tiger Woods. His story ended on Friday. Phil Mickelson? Finished well out of the top 40. Ryo Ishikawa? Well he did finish T2 but who the hell is that guy (he's the only the next branded Asian phenom but you probably didn't know that)? So then who dominated the headlines after Scott won? Stevie Williams. A caddy. That's right. The guy who at your local country club cleans your balls after every hole and gives you pretend advice and tips so you'll return the favor. Did Stevie Williams swing a club during the Bridgestone? No. Did he sink any putts? No. Was his name even on the leaderboard? No. Stevie actually carried a bag all weekend and then put it down on the 72nd hole Sunday to celebrate with Scott. So why is this guy the undisputed winner of the Bridgestone Invitational and not Scott? Two words. Super Ego. Sure, you're bound to gain a slight ego when you caddy for the greatest golfer of our generation for a solid decade but who would've expected this? Stevie stole headlines when in post-interview remarks, he said that winning the Bridgestone with Scott capped the greatest week of his life. He even went on to say that he absolutely meant it. While he did not mention Tiger by name, it was clear that his comments were directed to him. And not in a nice way either. Stevie Williams, a guy who was on the bag for 13 major championships with one previous player and zero with a current player chose the Bridgestone win as his greatest moment? Let's get something straight. If Mike "Fluff" Cowan or Jim "Bones" Mckay had been Tiger's caddy circa 1997-present, Tiger would still have likely won every single one of those championships. You know why? Because players win championships, not caddies. That in no way is meant to detract from the contributions that caddies give during tournaments and the countless hours they put in for their players. But in the end, on the last hole and the last putt of every tournament, the winner is the actual player. Stevie also told reporters that he'd won 145 tournaments after taking the Bridgestone. I'd just like to institute a recount on that one. Tiger 71. Stevie 0.