Tiger's caddy known by more than title in racing

The world becomes a strange place when your day starts with a 3:30 a.m. wakeup call in Tulsa, Okla.

Following a week of hosting the PGA Championship the plan was to make haste for Hawaii and a little R&R. What I didn't realize was that a five-hour layover in Denver beckoned. This is where the story gets interesting ...

I was working on an early morning text message when I spotted -- much to my surprise -- the man on the bag for Tiger Woods' Wannamaker Trophy win the day before.

Beau Estes co-hosts the Jack Daniel's Post-Race Show with Nikki Alexander. It can be seen following every Nextel Cup race live on NASCAR.COM.

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Steve Williams is Tiger's tough guy on the course, but if you know his story you understand that the man is a great racecar driver in his own right.

Living in the moment, I heeded the knock from opportunity, approached the world's most famous caddy and after a promise of a "Tiger-free" conversation, a racing discussion ensued.

The first thing that came to mind during my seven and a half seconds of preparation was, "What does this guy get from racing that he doesn't get anywhere else?"

"Excitement, mate," piped the Kiwi in full-throated accent. "It's 800 horsepower and sometimes you can control it and sometimes you can't."

Those last three words made me wonder if he was ever concerned or scar.

"Never" was the interruption of a response before I could get the last word out. "That's the excitement of it."

Aha. The conversation then turned to NASCAR and if you are wondering, the man with Valvoline ties is definitely a NASCAR fan.

"I follow it. I like Tony Stewart because he tells it like it is," Williams said, and then he proceeded to tell it like it is. "My one problem with the sport is that when most of the drivers answer questions they go through and name all of the sponsors before they get to the damned answer."

I couldn't (and wouldn't dare to) argue with him on this point.

One of the topics that comes up in golf circles constantly is the physical conditioning of Steve's employer, Tiger Woods. For the record, Williams himself doesn't lack fitness so we started discussing the relative athleticism of NASCAR drivers.

"I think you'll find that they are more athletic than you imagine," he said. "They are small but they are in shape so that they don't add weight to the car. They have to be. That is why so many people thought Danica Patrick might have an advantage when she began racing."

If you are wondering if Williams thought there might be an advantage for Danica, don't worry -- I asked. "She almost has to," he said. "If she weighs 140 and the other drivers weigh 190, well, it's hard to lose 50 pounds on a car."

His time is a tightly compacted schedule of golf caddying and racing mixed with a foundation that mirror's Tiger Woods foundation in the United States. The Steve Williams Foundation in New Zealand helps young Kiwis to play golf and gives them the proper tools to do so. (Continued)