While speaking to BBC Sport for an ‘All about Tiger Woods’ podcast, Woods’ former caddie gave us a glimpse of what it was like to caddie for Tiger Woods.

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When Williams was asked how many major championships Tiger was hoping to finish his career with, he said: “Tiger wanted to get to 20.

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“I said 21 is my favorite number, so let’s make it 21 and when you get to 21 you’re not seeing me again. And he said that’s because I’m retiring too.”

Williams was Woods’ caddie from 1999 to 2011 and was on the bag for 13 of his 15 major championships. During the podcast, he spoke about how much pressure came with being the caddie for Tiger.

“We had a special relationship,” said the New Zealander. “He was best man at my wedding and we had a special bond.

“But I felt a tremendous amount of pressure caddying for Tiger. A successful week is just a win.

“Some guys are happy to be top five, top 10. If he doesn’t win, he’s not happy and when you get certain lengths of time when he’s not winning, it’s a tough job because you’re feeling the pressure.”

The pressure was at an all-time high when Woods was chasing the “Tiger Slam” in 2000-2001. He had won the US Open, Open Championship and PGA Championship in 2000 and needed to win at The Masters to become the first player to hold all four of the major championships.

“He was adamant there was an opportunity with the rotation of courses that it could happen,” said Williams.

“He’d just won the US Open by 15 strokes and the first thing he was thinking of was St Andrews,” he continued.

“Amazingly, he played better at St Andrews than he did at Pebble. Those were the two best weeks in terms of overall performance.

“When you’re caddying for someone like Tiger who’s on top of the game, it’s something else. He was just focused on winning major championships. His whole goal was to eclipse Jack’s record, that’s what he wanted to do and his desire and work ethic to try and achieve that goal was second to none.”

Of all their victories together, Williams said the two victories at St. Andrews are two of the most important.

“Nothing compares to that walk up the 18th, it’s the greatest walk in golf,” said the 58-year-old.

“That big grandstand on the left, people lined up on the road on the right, hanging out of hotel windows. If you’re fortunate enough to come across that Swilcan Bridge and be in a situation where you’ve got the Open Championship in hand, that is a very special walk and fortunately Tiger and I have enjoyed that walk a couple of times.

“When The Open is held at St Andrews, it just goes up another notch, it’s a special place.”

Williams also believes navigating the Old Course is “the greatest test between a caddie and a player”.

He added: “It is the ultimate test, because depending on wind direction and hole placement you play down opposite fairways and they all have bunkers you can’t see and you’ve got to know exactly where those bunkers are.

“And you’ve got to know exactly where those pins are and which angle to come in from. It’s great when the wind blows because it makes it a real challenge.”

Woods will return to the Old Course next week to compete in the 150th Open Championship.

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