Tiger Woods only narrowly avoided helicopter disaster with World War II pilot flying

Tiger Woods avoided a helicopter disaster in Thailand almost 25 years ago (Image: GETTY)

Tiger Woods narrowly avoided a helicopter disaster in Thailand during one of his finest seasons in golf. The blockbuster star was in action at the Johnnie Walker Classic in 2000 when the incident took place.

Woods marked the start of a new millennium with a scintillating year on the course as he won the US Open, the Open Championship and the PGA Championship.

And he even cruised to victory at the tournament in Thailand after his near-death experience.

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Woods and his former caddie Steve Williams used a helicopter to travel to the Alpine Golf and Sports Club in Bangkok during the Johnnie Walker Classic in 2000.

And Williams spoke about the duo’s lucky escape during an appearance on the Chasing Majors podcast.

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“From the hotel where we were staying, we would take a helicopter to the golf course every week from the top of the hotel,” explained the 60-year-old. “And the pilot of the helicopter was an old guy from World War II, who spoke zero English - and he was absolutely amazing. How he navigated to get off the top of those roofs...

“But one day it just plummeted out of the air. We all thought that was all, we’re all gone. [Then] he said, ‘I’m sorry about that boys, took my eye off the John.’”

Woods and Williams were unharmed, if not a little shaken, with the golfer going on to win the tournament by three strokes after carding a score of 25-under-par.

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Tiger Woods worked with Steve Williams (right) for 12 years of his golf career (Image: GETTY)

Williams worked alongside Woods for 12 years between 1999 and 2011, with the golfer dominating the sport for much of that time.

And the caddie is now said to be worth a staggering £15.7million thanks to the success of the 48-year-old.

During their time together, Woods clinched a whopping 64 Tour trophies and won 13 Majors. He also received nine Tour player of the year awards. But the pair parted ways after Woods changed his mind about Williams temporarily working for golf rival Adam Scott.

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And detailing their split during an interview with CBS, Williams stated: “Adam heard Tiger pulled out and wondered where I was. I phoned Tiger about it and he said, 'No problem'. After some thought, though, he didn't agree with it.

“Tiger changed his mind. Well, I'd already told Adam I would be there. I wasn't prepared to ring Adam up and say I can't do it. I'm a man of my word. I had no idea I was going to get fired over it.

“I also hadn't worked a lot. Not that I needed the money, but I wanted to work. I was told [by Tiger] after the US Open that I no longer had a job and it's as simple as that.”

Tiger Woods only narrowly avoided helicopter disaster with World War II pilot flying

Tiger Woods only narrowly avoided helicopter disaster with World War II pilot flying

Tiger Woods only narrowly avoided helicopter disaster with World War II pilot flying

Tiger Woods only narrowly avoided helicopter disaster with World War II pilot flying

Tiger Woods only narrowly avoided helicopter disaster with World War II pilot flying