Norman: Navarro the perfect fit for Woods

• By Jason Sobel
• Jul 22, 2011 11:29 AM ET

If there’s one person who knows what replacing Steve Williams on the bag will entail for Tiger Woods, it’s Greg Norman, who employed the caddie for more than a full decade earlier in his career.

“[He] was a great kid to groom – very assertive, very confidential in respect to the boss,” Norman told GolfChannel.com. “To me, he was the vital hub to a lot of my success and the same for Tiger.”

While Norman sees many potential candidates to take over as Woods’ next caddie, there’s one name in particular he believes the player should seek.

“I can think of one in Tony Navarro,” he contended. “I would like to think Tiger would take advantage of one of the best caddies in the game. As good as Steve was for me, Tony Navarro was far better as far as being a professional caddie. I think Tony would be wonderful for Tiger; he would push him just a little bit and get the confidence going again.”

Navarro served as Norman’s longtime caddie and – ironically enough – most recently served on the bag of Adam Scott, who will now employ Williams full-time.

“I have spoken with Tony,” said Norman, who indicated they had chatted via telephone in the days since the Williams firing was made public on Wednesday. “That’s a question you need to ask him. I asked if he would be interested and he said of course he would. Any caddie would, whether he was playing wounded or at his peak. The opportunity is there and the rest is Tiger’s decision.”