Tiger Woods' ex caddie reveals why PGA Tour has pace of play problem

Tiger Woods' former caddie Steve Williams says one reason for the PGA Tour's pace of play problem is because golfers have far too much information at their disposal. 

Williams was Woods' caddie from 1999 to 2011 during which the hall of famer won 13 of his 15 major championship titles. 

In previous interviews Williams has stated what made Woods so successful was his ability to keep the game simple and pull the trigger quickly. 

There is no denying the PGA Tour's pace of play has been an increasingly maddening issue over the last few years. 

Field sizes will be trimmed and rangefinders are set to be permitted full-time to combat the issue.

One former US Open champion thinks this is just a crutch. 

In a recent appearance on Golf's Subpar, Williams argued PGA Tour golfers are stripping themselves of their talents by becoming paralyzed with the abundance of information. 

Williams used multiple PGA Tour winner and former World No.1 Jason Day as an example to illustrate his point. 

The Kiwi worked with Day for just six events in 2019 and, when the pair split, the Australian explained there were no hard feelings but simply a disconnect between the old school and the new school.

"When I look back at it, I think that was one of his major attributes," Williams told the pod of Woods' speed over the ball. 

"He played pretty quickly. He made his decision, pulled the trigger and played the shot. So I think that was one of his attributes that made him successful. It blew me away."

He added: "Nothing against Jason, you know, I would call Jason a modern-day player, and I would call Tiger an olden-day player. 

"When I was caddying for Jason, you know, trying to calculate, he had information about how far the ball went in 70°, 80°, 90°, 100° weather and all these different things became overwhelming."

Williams said Woods never wanted to use 'all those numbers'. 

"And I think today, part of the problem is that the information that's available now has contributed to the slow play on Tour," he said. 

"There's just too much information now. Whether that's a good thing or bad thing, it's an individual choice. 

"I feel like some of these guys like, paralyze themselves, strip themselves of their talent just [by] worrying too much about that stuff."

Why Tiger Woods chose Steve Williams to caddie for him

Williams has previously revealed the first time Woods called him to ask about being his full-time caddie he told him to 'f--- off'. 

He thought his friend Bob, who does a stellar impression of Woods, was pranking him.

It took Woods three phone calls to convince Williams the call was genuine. 

Williams has now explained why he believed Woods hand-picked him for the role.

"I've always had a reputation as a stand-up sort of a guy," he said. 

"I'm not scared to voice my opinion and not scared to back myself, if you like. 

"And Tiger asked a few people — Mark O'Meara, his good mate; Butch Harmon, his coach at the time; and a couple other people. 

"Obviously each person Tiger asked, they had a few different caddies, but my name was synonymous with all the people that he asked, and that's how it came about."

Listen to the full podcast here.