The golfing world was left reeling yesterday after caddie Steve Williams made a racist remark about his former boss Tiger Woods at an awards dinner.
New Zealander Williams called Woods a “black arsehole” during the annual caddies’ awards at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
He made the extraordinary outburst when asked about his controversial celebrations following a victory by his new employer, Australian Adam Scott, at the Bridgestone Invitational in August.
Photo: AFP
Williams, who was sacked by Woods in July after being at the former world No. 1’s side for 13 of his 14 major championship titles, described Scott’s victory as the “best win of my career.”
Addressing the room after being handed a tongue-in cheek “celebration of the year” gong, Williams, 47, shocked players, fellow caddies and sponsors by saying: “It was my aim to shove it right up that black arsehole.”
Williams later issued an apology on his kiwicaddy.co.nz Web site.
“I apologise for comments I made last night,” he said in the statement.
“I now realise how my comments could be construed as -racist. However I assure you that was not my intent. I sincerely apologise to Tiger and anyone else I have offended.”
Nevertheless there were calls in the British media for Williams to be sacked by world No. 8 Scott and thrown out of the game.
Scott was among a clutch of top 10 players, including Rory McIlroy, among the 100-strong audience listening to Williams’ comments in the banquet hall.
Scott, 31, teed off yesterday with Williams at his side as the storm around his caddy’s comments gathered strength and moved up to joint first with Swede Freddie Jacobson on 12-under during the first nine of the third round.
Officials at the WGC-HSBC Champions, Asia’s flagship event sanctioned by the PGA and European tours, were said to be -embarrassed by Williams’ slur, but were keeping silent on the scandal.
“It was a private function and we will not be making any further comment,” said a press officer from HSBC, the tournament sponsor.
The sanctioning tours refused to make an official comment.
However, a source from one of the tours said: “It’s going to be difficult for Adam Scott if sponsors think he has a racist carrying his bag.”
Williams is known for his outspokenness and gruff personality. Previously, at another private function, he called Phil Mickelson a “right prick,” and he has made a series of backbiting remarks about Woods since their split.
He made an estimated US$3 million during his career with Woods and remained loyal during the legend’s notorious sex scandal.
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
Taiwan on Wednesday finished with 15 medals at the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Hong Kong, taking home four gold, five silver and six bronze medals across the age group divisions. Taiwan ranked third on the medal table after South Korea with 17 golds and the US with eight golds at the five-day competition. “Your athletes have proven themselves as the best in the world,” World Taekwondo president Choue Chung-won said at the closing ceremony of the martial art contest that was attended by a record 1,727 athletes from around the world. On the first day of the competition at the Hong Kong
Taiwan’s Lin Cheng-jing won a bronze medal in the clean and jerk in the women’s under-49 kg division at the 2024 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Bahrain on Saturday. Lin won her first medal at a World Weightlifting Championships for lifting 107kg in the clean and jerk in her weight class, 2kg more than Rosegie Ramos of the Philippines. However, Ramos won bronze for the combined lift after topping Lin by 5kg in the snatch. Ri Song-gum of North Korea won gold in the division’s combined lift with a total of 213kg, while Xiang Linxiang of China took silver with
RSS