Tiger Woods' New Caddie: Who Will Bite?

Tiger Woods announced on Wednesday that he and Steve Williams will no longer be working together. With Tiger's statement and a vacancy available, the question of who Tiger will pick to fill the position now looms.

A 13-year working relationship between Tiger and Steve is now over. It seems that Tiger wants to make changes and finding a new caddie is one of the changes needed.

Changing caddies is common practice on the PGA Tour. Tiger and Steve seemed to have a successful working relationship, so the decision made by Tiger came as a surprise. Especially to Steve Williams.

Williams has been loyal to Woods through the years, even when news of Tiger's infidelity became public. Williams never really addressed the issue and kept quiet as events unfolded.

Williams has been loyal to a fault, having to become a bodyguard and thug at times for Woods.

During the Skins Game in 2002, Williams threw a fan's camera into a lake because the fan was taking a picture of Tiger teeing off. In December of 2008, he called Phil Mickelson a vulgar name at a charity event, but later apologized for the incident.

Apparently, Tiger and Steve talked about parting ways at this year's AT&T, but it still came as a surprise to Williams. There seemed to be no signs of a problem or a need to break the relationship.

Now the question is: Who will take Steve's place? Who will be up for the task?

Some names of potential candidates are beginning to circulate—Dustin Johnson's caddie, Joe LaCava, is one of them. LaCava also caddied for Fred Couples for years.

Whomever is named as Tiger's new caddie will have to realize that sacrifices will need to be made. The image of working with Tiger does not carry the same meaning it once did.

There are those who respect Woods for his game but not as a person since November of 2009. There are those who are not willing to take on the multitude of fans as they converge to watch Woods play or practice. Some caddies may not want to cater to Tiger's wishes as they may seem unreasonable based on their past experiences with other players. Others simply may not want the attention they receive for being Tiger's caddie.

Steve Williams' departure can be viewed as either another problem for Woods or another opportunity. It could be a chance to form a new partnership that will have positive growth and longevity.

It worked for Jim Furyk and Fluff.