Tiger's Caddie Would've Blown Whistle If He Knew

Golfer's longtime sidekick says he was hurt by Woods' infidelity

Even Tiger Woods' caddie was hurt by the golf star's infidelities.

Steve Williams, who has toted the superstar's clubs for 11 years, told a New Zealand TV program that he had no idea his boss was tomcatting around behind his wife's back. He's not happy about it.

"Of course I'm mad at him, why would you not be? I'm close with his wife and he's got two loverly children," Williams, a Wellington native, told TV3's "60 Minutes" program yesterday. "It's been the most difficult time of my life, no two ways about it, because every single person believed that I should know or did know or had something to do with it. I knew nothing."

If he had known about Woods' affairs,  "the whistle would have been blown," he said. Still, he'd "never think of walking away."

Williams said he had not talked to Woods about the sex scandal that jeopardized the sports legend's marriage and public image. The golfer took an "indefinite break" from the sport in December to get treatment at the Pine Grove Behavioral Health & Addiction Services in Mississippi.

Woods dropped out of sight in the aftermath of a wee-hours car crash outside his mansion near Orlando on Thanksgiving night. In the weeks that followed, a parade of women came forward to say they had affairs with the married father of two. Two weeks ago, Woods made a carefully orchestrated live appearance in which he apologized for his womanizing and said he'd been getting treatment for an unspecified problem.

"I do plan to return to golf one day," he said in the Feb. 19 appearance. "I just don't know when that day will be."

Williams said Woods has been hitting balls on the practice range, but that he wouldn't hurry back to the game before he felt comfortable. Williams predicted the public will eventually embrace his friend again.

"I think when Tiger gets back to playing, people will be appreciative of the fact he is going to play," Williams said.

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