SOUTHPORT, England — Steve Williams never did watch much golf. While caddieing for Tiger Woods from 1999 until 2011, he was famous within golf circles for flying home to New Zealand when Woods had two weeks off from competition. Williams didn’t even check PGA Tour results, let alone switch the TV on.
But early on Monday morning in New Zealand, Williams, the caddie who helped deliver 13 of Woods’ 15 majors and Adam Scott’s 2013 Masters triumph, broke from habit and turned the TV on as his close friend and countryman, Ryan Fox birdied the 72nd hole to win the Open Championship by one shot over Cameron Young at Royal Birkdale.
“I've had a little bit to do with Ryan, right from his amateur days through to turning professional and I've caddied for him several times at the New Zealand Open,” Williams told Golf Digest via phone from New Zealand. “When you know somebody personally, it's emotional, for sure.”
Williams has another habit: Encouraging tour pros he believes in before big moments. He used to write notes to Woods. He gave Scott a pep talk on the practice putting green prior to the Australian’s runner-up at the 2011 Masters, which set the stage for his Augusta win two years later. Earlier this week, Williams emailed Fox a note of encouragement.
“I was talking with him before the tournament started and he said his preparation went fantastic and he was really looking forward to it,” Williams said. “When he says he's playing good, he's going to be there [in the mix] or thereabouts. I just love encouraging the guy. I've told him many times, ‘You've got the game [to win a major], you've got all it takes.’ You just fill the guy with belief and eventually [he’ll win]. I just think he's an absolutely fantastic person, and he's an unbelievable player and it's just fitting that he's won the Open Championship.
“I was pretty pumped to watch that third round, when he shot 62 and then to go on today and win it, which is not easy [to follow up]. It his dream, it’s every pro's dream, to win a major. The claret jug is, in most people's opinion, probably the one that they want to win the most. It's the tournament where most people have the opportunity to qualify. It's not an invite-only sort of an event.”
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Fox, 39, became the first New Zealand winner of a men’s major since Michael Campbell defeated Woods by two shots at the 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst. Williams and Woods waited around to congratulate Campbell that day. Williams said Woods knew what it meant to New Zealand.
“Golf is so difficult,” Williams said. “There are so many great players. Ryan had never finished in the top 10 in a major and this is the first time he's got a chance and you don't know if he's going to get another. So many things have to fall your way each of those four weeks of the year to win a major.
“But there were a lot of people, myself included, who always believed that Ryan was going to take that grand step and win a major. In my opinion, the Open Championship was the one that suited him the best. He has a ball flight that and a great imagination around the greens and the hard links golf really suits him. So it comes as no surprise.”
Another thing that didn’t catch Williams off guard was the speed at which Fox played, and stepped up to hole his winning putt.
“I'm a little bit shocked myself watching it, but I knew he'd hole that put on the last hole,” Williams said. “That's the way Ryan operates. He's like a cat on a hot tin roof. He just can't stand still. I don't think anyone, even probably the people in the production truck, could have believed how quick he putted it after Sam Burns holed out. I'm incredibly proud of him and his family.”
Fox won’t be in a rush to return the claret jug to St. Andrews for next year’s 155th Open at the Old Course. That’s a 12-month period every Champion Golfer of The Year wants to go slow.
“I hadn't thought about that, but yeah, that sounds pretty cool,” Fox said, sitting next to the claret jug.