Williams’ comments blown out of proportion, says Scott

ADAM SCOTT has claimed the furore surrounding his caddie Steve Williams in the wake of his WGC-Bridgestone Invitational victory has been blown out of all proportion.

Williams, sacked by Tiger Woods last month after 12 years on the bag, during which time the American won 13 of his 14 majors, used the victory of his new employer to claim it was the most satisfying win of his career

The New Zealander’s comments, during which he made little reference to his Australian boss’s part in the success, also raised eyebrows for using the platform to have another go at his former employer.

Asked yesterday if he would have spoken to his bagman if he had said what Williams, 47, had said, world number two Lee Westwood replied: “I probably would. I thought there was no relevance to the interview other than to have a good dig at Tiger Woods in the ribs. It’s blatantly obvious that he’s a fantastic caddie, because he’s won with all different kinds of player. I just didn’t see the point in putting him on TV. ”

World number one Luke Donald, who finished second to Scott at Firestone Country Club on Sunday, said: “I think Stevie was given the opportunity to talk and he had the right to say what he wanted to say.

“The only disappointing thing that I found from it was there was no talk of how pleased he was about Adam winning. The caddie does play an important role but I think if he had mentioned something about Adam, this wouldn’t have been an issue.”

Scott, though, said he had been surprised by the fuss when he faced the media at Atlanta Athletic Club ahead of tomorrow’s first round at the PGA Championship.

Asked if he had ever experienced a victory where his caddie gained more attention than the golfer, Scott replied in the negative before adding: “But it was incredible; even just walking around the course, so many of the gallery were cheering for Steve. That was fun.

“I think it’s been blown out of proportion, unsurprisingly, but you know, I guess it’s newsworthy stuff.

As for stealing the attention away from him, the Australian said: “I certainly don’t think that was his intention to steal my moment. But you know, he was asked these questions and he gave his honest answer. With anything related to Tiger Woods, it’s all scrutinised and blown out of proportion a lot of the time. Hopefully we’ll just go and let our clubs do the talking for the rest of the week now.”