Tiger Woods received an apology from former caddie Steve Williams over a racial slur when the two met and shook hands Tuesday.
"We talked this morning, we met face to face and talked about it, talked it through," Woods said ahead of the Australian Open at The Lakes Golf Club.
Williams' disparaging comment came during a caddies' awards party on Friday in Shanghai. "It was a wrong thing to say, something that we both acknowledge," Woods said. "He did apologize. It was hurtful, certainly, but life goes forward."
Woods said it was not up to him to call for sanctions against Williams. The PGA Tour and European Tour have said no action would be taken against Williams for the comment.
"Stevie's certainly not a racist," Woods said on Tuesday. "There's no doubt about that. It was a comment that shouldn't have been made and was certainly one that he wished he didn't make."
He was asked how two people so close together for more than a decade - Williams was on Woods' bag for 13 of his 14 majors over 13 years - could become so distant so quickly.
Woods fired Williams in July. Woods said: "For me personally it was a tough decision to make to go in a different direction in my personal life, but as far as personally, I don't know how it could have happened the way it did. But it just did and here we are. It's just one of those things where we'll see what time does and as we all know, time does heal wounds."
{{/usCountry}}Woods fired Williams in July. Woods said: "For me personally it was a tough decision to make to go in a different direction in my personal life, but as far as personally, I don't know how it could have happened the way it did. But it just did and here we are. It's just one of those things where we'll see what time does and as we all know, time does heal wounds."
{{/usCountry}}Asked for the source of the animosity between the pair, Woods replied: "That's between Stevie and me."