Rather than focus on whether or not Steve Williams is a racist, I'm more fascinated about the relationship between these two men. They are chalk and cheese.
One wears his emotions on his sleeve and tends to engage his mouth before his brain. The other is very controlled, has a dead-pan face when giving interviews or apologising in public for his marital indiscretions, and always chooses his words carefully.
And yet they made an unbeatable pair in the golf world for many years.
The boorish, heavy-handed tactics of Williams seemed to provide Woods with the space to concentrate on his golf (and perhaps his extra-curricular activities as well?).
They were groomsmen at each other's weddings, and seemed to have one of the best employee-employer relationships around.
Nonetheless, this partnership came to an end. Woods was going through a transitional period in his life and needed to change a lot about what he was doing.
If a man can alter his golf swing, why not his support staff? If a man can be disloyal to his wife, why not his caddy? Breaking up can create a wave of emotions from denial, despair, anger, resentment and, for some, even acceptance and forgiveness.
Williams has struggled to progress to the latter stages of this emotional journey. Let's face it, "Stevie" as Tiger refers to him, is as rough as guts. He left school at 15 and made caddying his livelihood.
His values are predominantly working class in a sport that is historically upper class. He appears to value loyalty, friendship, directness and retribution over a stiff upper lip, knowing your place, minding your p's and q's, and being respectful.
Some suggest he didn't mean to say what he did. He meant it.
He chose a "b" and an "a" on that evening because he wanted to be funny in front of his mates and as derogatory as he could to Tiger.
I would have thought referring to someone as an orifice was offensive enough, but Williams in his wisdom decided to make his comment even more offensive by adding the dreaded "black" tag in front of it.
If we wanted to give Williams the benefit of the doubt, we could say he was being "descriptive", but those two words in combination can be nothing but derogatory.
Thankfully he didn't use the "n" word, because then his career would well and truly be in the bunker and no amount of apologising would resurrect it.
What about the occasion? Were his comments taken out of context? Did the fact that he was being awarded the season's best celebration after Scott's Bridgestone invitational win at an annual "tongue in cheek" caddy awards dinner justify his response?
To some extent, yes, but the fact he felt he could make such a comment in front of his fellow caddies is worrying.
What is the caddy culture about? Is the awards evening a chance for the caddies to let their hair down and poke fun at their bosses? Probably. Is it a culture where racial slurs are accepted?
I'm curious to know what the ethnic make-up of professional caddies is now and will be watching golf tournaments to make my own judgement.
Williams needs to take just as much care picking his words as he does the clubs for his golfer, and he needs to realise we are in the age of technology where nothing is "off the record" these days.
Williams' suggestion that "no-one in New Zealand is racist" is also ignorant. Does he not read the papers or at least realise the naivety of such a claim?
New Zealand racism may not be explicit, but it is there.
It happens behind closed doors among mates or like-minded colleagues when no-one thinks they are being recorded (just ask Andy Haden).
In the end, Williams is a great caddy who struggles to engage his brain before his mouth. Maybe his last rant against Tiger, combined with the reaction from it, and the awkward meeting between the two at the Australian Open, will give Williams the closure he needed to build a bridge and get over it. God knows, we all want him to, because it is getting embarrassing, not only for him but for New Zealand.
