Hank Haney has resigned as Tiger’s coach, and he wants to make it known that he wasn’t pushed—he jumped. From HankHaney.Com:
I have informed Tiger Woods this evening that I will no longer be his coach.
I would like to thank Tiger for the opportunity that I have had to work with him over the past 6 plus years. Tiger Woods has done the work to achieve a level of greatness that I believe the game of golf has never seen before and I will always appreciate the opportunity that I have had to contribute to his successes. I have also enjoyed the association that I have had with Tiger both on and off the golf course as I have had some incredible experiences. In coaching and teaching Tiger I have also learned a lot, not only about golf, but about people and life in general. It has been a great learning experience and along the way Tiger has elevated me in my own profession to a level that I never thought I would achieve before I had the opportunity to work with him.
In many ways because of all of the time that I have spent with Tiger, I may have learned more from him than he has ever learned from me. So I believe at this time that it is in both of our best interests for me to step aside as Tiger’s coach.
I will always look back upon our past half dozen years together as my best days in professional golf. It would be a dream of any coach to have a student like Tiger Woods and for me it was a dream come true. Just so there is no confusion I would like to make it clear that this is my decision. Tiger Woods and I will always be friends, but I believe that there is a time and place for everything and I feel at this time and at this place in my life I want to move forward in other areas.
Tiger has been just an incredible performer in golf and he has achieved great success throughout his career. First with his father Earl, and then with Butch Harmon as his coach, followed by me, I know Tiger Woods will be successful in the future no matter who helps him. He is an incredible athlete with an incredible work ethic. As we all know, Tiger has been through a lot in the last six months, and I really believe that given the chance, mind free and injury free, we will all see Tiger Woods play once again like we all know he can.
I wish Tiger well, not only with his golf, but in finding peace and happiness in all aspects of his life. Tiger knows that if he ever needs me in anyway, whether it be with his golf or just as a friend he can always call. I will always, as I have been in the past, be there for him. From a personal standpoint, I look forward to being able to make many more contributions to the great game of golf in the days and years ahead.
Hank Haney
Haney has been Tiger’s coach since 2004, when he ditched Butch Harmon after winning eight major championships with Harmon’s swing. Quite frankly, he was never the same after that. Haney’s resignation comes in spite of Tiger’s public insistence that he and Haney would continue to work together.
Can Stevie Williams and the boys at IMG be far behind?
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To be fair to Haney, he does have a busy life outside of Tiger Woods’ problems. It could be that Haney just decided that he had too much going on to be able to drop everything and come running whenever Tiger needed him. I always wonder how Butch Harmon can just hop on a plane everytime Phil calls.
I just find this odd where the coach dumps the student. It is one thing in other professional sports where the coach is the manager of the players, but in golf, the coach is the employee of the player. It is an interesting dynamic and just seems strange when a coach fires a player. The last notable one was when Butch quit Daly when his life became such a train wreck, and now Haney has quit Tiger – can we presume it is really for the same reason? It is possible that Tiger’s divorce rumors (that it is a certainty now) are true, and that he has now started to go back off the rails and Haney tried a come to Jesus meeting and got blown off? Possible that Haney knows the neck business is just a work, and wants no part of that?
On the flipside, it was probably only a matter of time before the blame started to come back on Haney either straight from Tiger or some media and Haney would face a firing then anyway. This way he might just be ensuring the stink doesn’t come back on him for this poor play.
As for Butch and how he makes it to Phil. Phil has deep pockets and doesn’t play a super full schedule anyway. When Phil is paying for the charter, Butch might be home at breakfast and dinner and just be seeing Phil for some afternoon work. He probably has had to put Phil off a little, but the other pros may also understand when Butch has to jet off. Think Natalie would mind if Butch missed a lesson to go take care of Phil if the reciprocal is that Phil pays for your next 3 sessions with Butch?
Interesting interview on Sportscenter with Haney.
http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=5180556
In the interview, Haney says he wants to focus on other things in his life like his show on Golf Channel. What? Hank, dude. I like your show and all – but you want to focus on teaching people like Ray Romano and Charles Barkley instead of the supposed #1 golfer? That statement makes no sense. Golf Channel will surely work around your schedule with any actual Pros – you only have the reputation from your stable of pros, not from whether Romano can break 80, or Barkley can break 110.
Maybe Hank really wants to move on to a pro which is struggling to find himself and actually looks like he might be committed to a change this time- Daly. That would be something if they paired up now—and you have a whole new show on Golf Channel.
Is this really that difficult to understand? Haney doesn’t want to be Tiger’s coach at the very moment Tiger falls from #1 to #2. Who wants to give a television show to, or enroll in a golf academy with, a guy who best known “accomplishment” is to oversee a decline? Whether that is a valid judgment or not is another question. But as a teacher, that’s how Haney would be remembered.
I wonder if Haney hasn’t decided that his “brand” would be damaged by any further association with Woods.
Of course, his association with Barkley and Romano has done enough damage right there.