Williams seeks 'ideal stress relief' from golf

ROBYN EDIE/Southland Times

STAR SIGNS: Steve Williams, saloon car racer and caddie for world No 1 Tiger Woods, with brothers James (left) and Connor Maclean, of Mossburn, in Invercargill yesterday.

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Tiger Woods' victory at the Australian Masters in Melbourne marked a special moment for his New Zealand caddy Steve Williams.

"I've actually won the tournament four times before, caddying for Greg Norman," Williams told The Southland Times yesterday.

"What I consider my first real big victory was back in 1983, caddying for Greg (at the Australian Masters). That tournament has a special spot in my heart. The last time I caddied for Greg at the tournament was when he won it in 89."

At the time, Norman was the world's No 1 player. To come back 20 years later with another world No 1 in Tiger Woods and win again was a great moment, Williams said.

Woods' victory deserved praise, given the pressure he was under in Australia, Williams said.

"It was beyond my imagination. Tiger's a big deal, we all know that, and he hasn't played in Australia for 11 years. The anticipation for him to play there – right from the moment we touched down and there were helicopters hovering above us – it was an amazing feeling."

The golfing bagman was in Invercargill yesterday to indulge his other sporting passion – saloon car racing. The saloon series that Williams organises is making its first appearance in the South Island, having garnered a strong following in the North Island during the past eight years.

It was Williams' first time racing at Sandy Point's Riverside Speedway and he was looking forward to the challenge.

"(Of) the North Island competitors, no-one has raced down here before. Invercargill's not a track which (usually) races saloons.

"The whole idea of running this series in the South Island as opposed to the North Island is to promote this class of racing."

Motorsport was so diverse from his high-pressure role in golf that it offered the ideal stress relief, he said.

Williams said speedway had an excellent following in New Zealand's smaller centres.

"Throughout the country, it's amazing, it's the smaller tracks which have the bigger followings. I've never raced in Invercargill and we are going to Greymouth on Saturday and I've never raced there. Guys are really excited, it's like going to a golf course you haven't played before but you've heard a lot about."

- © Fairfax NZ News