Tiger Woods' longtime caddie returns to help young Aussie

Anthony Quayle won't be the most famous person in his group when the 31-year-old opens his first season as a DP World Tour member at this week's Australian PGA at Royal Queensland.

Quayle has enlisted the help of Steve Williams, who was on the bag for 13 of Tiger Woods' 15 major championships as well as for Adam Scott's 2013 win at the Masters.

Williams, 62, will take a brief hiatus from his retirement to caddie for Quayle this week in Brisbane as well as at next week's Australian Open at Royal Melbourne.

Over a four-decade career, Williams has also looped for Greg Norman, Ian Baker-Finch and Raymond Floyd.

"Anthony's had a lot of experience and he's got the great opportunity this year of playing on the DP World Tour," Williams told Australian Golf Digest. "It's a first time experience for him and he's got the talent and ability. If I can pass on any information that might assist him in his journey, it's worth it. I don't look at it from the results standpoint these two weeks, it's about what he can get out of me and to encourage him to fulfill his potential."

Quayle is currently No. 664 in the Official World Golf Ranking, but has been as high as 180th.

He decided to give up his status on the Japan Tour to compete on the 2024-25 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and seek one of the three DP World Tour cards available based on order of merit. Quayle closed with eight consecutive top-10 finishes on the Challenger circuit, and a birdie on his final hole of the season secured the final DP World Tour card available.

Quayle won the Queensland Open in 2020 and the Queensland PGA Championship in 2022, and is hoping these two weeks with Williams on his bag propels him to a strong season on the DP World Tour.

"I'm just incredibly fortunate that Steve was willing to come and help me out," Quayle told Australian Golf Digest. "It's just a really cool experience. I think having somebody like Steve on your bag, you can't help but feel you've maybe got a 15th club in the bag. There's a fair bit of experience and golf IQ that comes along with his career. Just really excited about the next couple weeks."

The winner of the Australian Open will also receive an invitation to the 2026 Masters at Augusta National, where Williams has been part of some of the event's most dramatic moments. He said that Quayle's "got the game to play at Augusta."

"Now that the Augusta is inviting the (Australian Open) winner to play the Masters, it just gives an added edge a bit more importance to it," Williams said. "So there'll be a lot of on the line next Sunday afternoon."

--Field Level Media