With Tiger Woods on the shelf until at least 2009, his caddie Stevie Williams has some free time on his hands.

So where does the trusted adviser to the World's No. 1 and scourge of pushy photographers and noisy fans go to relax? Sunriver, Ore.

The Bend Bulletin newspaper caught up with Williams at his summer home, where he’s racing cars and working on his golf game — his two favorite hobbies, he says, in that order. A native New Zealander, William makes his home in Oregon during the golf season.

This year, Williams has spent most of his summer in Central Oregon with his wife, Kirsty, and their son, Jett. He has been working on his golf game for the first time in years, as well as on his Steve Williams Foundation (which helps junior golfers in New Zealand) and his car-racing team.

Williams, who is known mostly for his necessary “Bad Cop” role on Team Tiger, is said to be a warm and engaging guy off the course. That’s how he comes off in this article as well. While Williams gives no indication of when he thinks Tiger will be back, he leaves no doubt that he expects his boss to be as good as ever when he returns.

Williams is thought to be the best-compensated caddie on the PGA Tour, but he hasn’t thought seriously about retirement from Woods’ golf bag, yet.

Instead, the Kiwi is content to play his supporting-actor role as history unfolds before his eyes.

“Certainly, I think at some point in time I would certainly look at maybe not caddying every particular week he plays,” Williams says. “In the future, sometime that will happen so I can concentrate more on my racing.

“But right now, you know, why would you? It’s great to watch.”