Caddies on Tours around the world will be clamouring to get Adam Scott’s attention after the World No.2 announced that he and caddie Steve Williams have split after three years together.

The high-profile bagman first signalled intentions to scale back his caddieing duties in the wake of Scott’s epic 2013 Masters victory but decided earlier this year to wait until the end of the 2014 season before reducing his schedule. Initially, it appeared Williams would still carry for Scott between March and September each year but that arrangement is no longer appealing for Scott and the highly successful partnership is now over.

Williams with Scott at the PGA Championship, which turned out to be their final major together. PHOTO: Getty Images Williams with Scott at the PGA Championship, which turned out to be their final major together. PHOTO: Getty Images

“My initial plan for the future was to reduce the amount of tournaments I caddied in,” Williams said. “After discussing this in detail with Adam it became evident that my plan was not going to fit with Adam’s requirements and so we decided to end our partnership. Having caddied for the first Australian to win the Masters is a career highlight and a memory I will cherish forever.”

“Steve has been an integral part of my team in a period where I have fulfilled some of my lifetime golfing goals,” Scott said in a statement. “His dedication and professionalism have been without question, and his friendship is highly valued. Our priorities and stages of life are different now and so we decided that this is the best time to end our partnership.”

The pair came together in mid-2011 in messy circumstances as Williams was enduring an acrimonious split from Tiger Woods. The man known to many as “Stevie” (and who recently shared that he actually hates that nickname given to him by Woods), famously declared his first victory with Scott at the 2011 WGC–Bridgestone Invitational was “the best win of my life”, which at the time included caddieing to victory at 13 majors.

Thanks to his exemplary caddieing skills, decisive on-course dialogues with his employers and at-times brusque dealings with galleries, Williams built a persona on Tour that made him more identifiable than many of the professional golfers. Yet players and fellow caddies respected his knowledge and work ethic, making it no surprise he routinely attracted the premier players during his 35 years on Tour.

What began as a teenager carrying Peter Thomson’s bag in his native New Zealand blossomed into a distinguished career working for luminaries including Ray Floyd, Greg Norman, Ian Baker-Finch, Woods and Scott. The popular opinion on Scott when the pair came together three years ago was that Williams would help provide the ‘mongrel’ many felt Scott was lacking. Whether true or not, the pair gelled instantly, winning that WGC event, almost capturing the Open Championship a year later and famously combining to read then strike the winning putt at the 2013 Masters.

Williams will now retire to spend time with his wife and 8-year-old son and indulge his passion for saloon-car racing, although he hinted he would happily caddie on a part-time basis if such an arrangement suited both parties. Scott, meanwhile, will undoubtedly field countless offers for a replacement bagman.