Books: "Together We Roared," Steve Williams On His Time With Tiger

 

Together We Roared: Alongside Tiger for His Epic Thirteen-Majors Run

By Steve Williams and Evin Priest

William Morrow; hardcover, 320 pages, $30.00; E-Book, $14.99; and Digital Audio, $27.99

Steve Williams, a New Zealand native, is one of the greatest caddies in golf history. He carried the clubs for such golfers as Greg Norman, Ian Baker-Finch, and most famously, Tiger Woods. He became most known as Tiger's caddy because in their time together, he won eighty tournaments worldwide, including thirteen major championships. Williams was inducted into the Caddie Hall of Fame by the Western Golf Association in 2014.

Evin Priest, who hails from Australia, is a celebrated golf journalist who has covered golf tours around the world for over ten years, and a trusted member of the PGA Tour's media circle. He has interviewed Tiger Woods one-on-one numerous times, and covered his 2019 Masters victory, among many momentous events. Priest has also profiled major-winning golfers including Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Jon Rahm, and Cameron Smith.

Together We Roared is Steve Williams' remarkable new book, chronicling one of the greatest partnerships in sports history, between him and golfer Tiger Woods. This incisive memoir is written in the third person to allow him to dive into his deepest memories, over six months' worth of weekly and twice weekly interviews with Priest, and include recollections from other champion golfers, such as Chris DiMarco, Adam Scott, and Mark O'Meara.

It arrives at the twentieth anniversary of one of his Masters victories in 2005. That was when Woods hit that iconic shot on the 16th hole, with the ball approaching the hole as if in slow motion, to the point it froze on the Nike logo before it fell into the cup.

Williams and Woods collaborated for 12 years, a time in which Tiger transformed the game of golf and became one of the biggest sports figures in the world. Part of that was because he was expected to win every tournament he competed in, and it felt like he came close since he won more than 80 tournaments in his time with Stevie by his side.

Part of the appeal of a book like this is Williams, a rather private person, especially since he left the golf world, shares never-before-told moments of his relationship with Tiger on and off the course, from their hilarious first encounter to their icy split, and eventual reconnection. It is a story that goes beyond golf to look into what it takes to create an enduring legacy, and the human bonds that shape such unforgettable moments.

Williams opens up about how he and Woods had a unique way of communicating that was key to their success. There's an analysis of how long it took to develop that bond, how they became nearly telepathic in the early-to-mid 200s, how Williams tried to maintain distance despite a developing friendship, and the generous gifts and rewards Woods gave him after big moments like the 2008 U.S. Open victory.

One of the interesting things Williams writes about are the moments that illustrate that closeness. There were moments they reversed roles, such as when Woods caddied for him at a local golf course, and when he served as co-best man at Williams' wedding in 2006. There also are never-before seen pictures of their partnership, which Williams keeps in his billiards room, from the rare and valuable Ford that Woods gave him after a win, to the golf bags Williams received in the late 1990s and early 2000s, to the final-hole flags from each of the major wins they shared, with each one including a heartfelt message from Woods.

One of those messages was written after Woods won the 2000 Open Championship at St. Andrews, a moment that will hit its 25th anniversary this year. Williams writes about a previously unknown reconnaissance mission that changed the course of Woods' shot at The Open, and new insights from him and Stuart Appleby share new insights into the private jet ride they took home from Scotland after Woods completed the career grand slam.

That win at St. Andrews was part of the "Tiger Slam" when Woods won all four majors, from the U.S. Open in June 2000 through the Masters in April 2001. Williams reveals the stats he kept from those wins, as well as ones he kept from his prime years overall, which he wrote each day by hand before official recordkeeping began. Some of these including Woods' months-long streaks without three-putting, to data that contributed directly to his ongoing success. It essentially was analytics before that took over sports as a whole, and showed Williams' role as caddie was also one of a kind of coach, giving information on a hole, sometimes with a microphone picking up their conversation, as Woods lined up a shot. 

Above all else was the golf, especially Woods' pursuit of Jack Nicklaus' record 18 major championships. There also was a real goal that Williams talked about with Woods, and gives vivid details on when they put that goal in writing.

In this excerpt from the author's note, Priest writes: Tiger Woods frequently uttered a five-word phrase that would make caddie Steve Williams grin at his boss's chances of winning that week. "The course fits my eye," Woods would remark about happy hunting grounds on the PGA Tour, such as Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando - where he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational a record eight times - and Firestone Country Clubb in Akron, Ohio. He won there eight times, too. He didn't always win after saying it, but "out of the 63 PGA Tour titles he won with me, an overwhelming majority came after he'd told me that, and sometimes he even said it publicly," Williams, Woods's bagman from 1999 to 2011, recalls. Woods used the motto days before some of his most important victories: before his drought-breaking major win at the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah No. 3; when Williams first caddied for Woods at Augusta National earlier that year; and before the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, which was the first municipal golf course to ever host America's national championship.

Williams knew there was more meaning than simply Woods enjoying the course's design. "What it meant to me was, if there was any tension or anxiety in his swing in the days or weeks leading up, it was gone when he said those words," Williams recalls. "I knew he felt comfortable with every shot the course demanded, and that allowed Tiger's instincts to shape the ball to kick in. Technical thoughts went out the window."