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JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Staring at a significant fork in his path, Tiger Woods opted for the high road yesterday.
Knowing he was going to be asked about his public divorce from his caddie, Steve Williams, Woods spoke as if they were still the best pals they were when they were groomsmen in each other’s weddings.
This despite the fact Williams called Woods out as a liar on Sunday at Firestone Country Club, where Williams’ new boss, Adam Scott, won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Woods, speaking for the first time since Williams’ harsh comments, refused to be drawn into a war of words, instead matter-of-factly revealing that he texted Williams after Scott’s victory to congratulate him.
“I was happy to see Stevie and Adam win,” Woods said. “Adam has been a friend of mine and same with Stevie. I sent Stevie a nice text after completion of play congratulating him on his win.”
When asked if he and Williams have corresponded since Williams’ Sunday rant, Woods offered only a cold stare and said, “I think that’s between Stevie and myself.”
Surely, open wounds remain between the two and probably will for a long time.
Yet with Woods and his guarded way, you never really know what he’s truly thinking.
Listening to Woods speak, it’s almost as if he’s whistling past the graveyard, oblivious to his current state of uncertainty and pretending all the demons and calamity that have ruled his life the last two years never existed.
With the PGA Championship starting today at the Atlanta Athletic Club, Woods did his best to make fans believe everything is back to normal in his life. Yet the reality is few things are back to normal, other than the fact that he appears healthy again.
Woods still is dealing with the messy Williams fallout, and he remains without a full-time caddie.
He hasn’t a tournament of any kind since November 2009 and his last PGA Tour win was September 2009.
He hasn’t won a major since the 2008 U.S. Open.
On the course, he has tumbled so far down the world and Fed-Ex Cup rankings, he probably will have to finish 14th or better this week to qualify for the Barclays Championship at Plainfield Country Club, the first leg of the playoffs.
Off the course, he’s lost his wife, his dignity, major sponsors and millions of dollars.
His popularity has plummeted to such depths fans at Firestone on Sunday were chanting Williams’ name — a clear negative reaction to their sentiment about Woods, considering how unpopular Williams has been in his 12-plus years as Woods’ bully.
The Williams issue simply won’t go away. Williams and Mark Steinberg, Woods’ manager, were spotted speaking to each other in a parking lot at the Atlanta Athletic Club, spurring speculation there might be a thaw to the cold war in motion.
On Sunday, Williams disputed Woods’ claim that he fired him in person at his AT&T National event in July, claiming Woods sacked him in a phone conversation in June.
Steinberg on Monday ripped Williams, saying Woods’ version is the truth and that Williams was out of line making his statements.
Woods refused to elaborate on what was said between Williams and Steinberg, saying only this through clenched teeth: “They talked, yeah, absolutely.”
Williams issued a statement on his website yesterday that included apologies to Scott for not acknowledging his win and to his fellow caddies for his boisterous comments. Nowhere in that statement, however, was there any indication of an apology to Woods.
Asked if, after all the years of Williams declining interview requests, he was surprised to see him go off so publicly on Sunday, Woods said, “Yes.”
Asked if he felt Williams showed disloyalty to him in the way he went public with the spat, Woods said, “I’m not going to speculate on Steve. Those are obviously his feelings and his emotions and his decision to say what he wants to say.”
mcannizzaro@nypost.com