The Stevie Firing Watch Commences?

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Slipped into John Huggan's column on Hank Haney was this about Tiger looper Stevie Williams.

Last week at the Players, Williams was even more taciturn than usual, a fact that betrayed a growing frustration with both his boss and the rubbish golf he was playing at Sawgrass. There seemed to be little or no interaction between the pair, even at times when Williams would normally be expected to step up and get in his man's ear.

There are growing rumours too that Mrs Williams (a close friend of the soon-to-be ex-Mrs Woods), disgusted by the salacious behaviour of Woods over the past few months, is keen for her husband to work in a, shall we say, cleaner atmosphere.

It is rather apparent in person that the old Stevie-Tiger vibe is gone, with Stevie much less animated and the conversations between the two minimized.

"Now I question everything he says."

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Hank Haney's insights into Tiger's possible progress in his sex rehab should be questioned, but his thoughts on PED use by Tiger drew even more ridicule from the SI/golf.com gang:

Bamberger: Haney says that he doesn't believe Tiger ever used performance-enhancing drugs. I hope he's correct. But if Woods had, I think there is NO chance that Hank would have known about it. In my experience, athletes who have used PEDs will lie to their grandmothers about it.

Morfit: Exactly. If I'm Tiger and I'm taking PEDs, I'm not picking up the phone and saying, "Hey, Hank, it's T — you'll never believe what I just put into my smoothie." Not going to happen.

Godich: There is no way Tiger would share THAT with anyone.

Morfit: Remember, this is a guy who wouldn't even tell us his neck hurt.

Herre: Haney says he didn't know about the women, either.

Evans: Remember guys, Hank was just an employee of Tiger, he wasn't a Jack Grout figure to him, some super-influential, fatherly figure full of pearls of wisdom.

Dusek: Hank said the only thing he saw Dr. Galea put in Tiger was what Galea had just taken out of Tiger and spun. But Hank can only really comment on what he saw. As Haney (and the rest of us) learned, there were lots of things in Tiger's life that were happening, but not out in the open.

Gary Van Sickle, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: This is where Tiger's being untruthful about so many things comes back to haunt him. He has no credibility. Now I question everything he says.

Tiger-Hank Breakup Clippings, Vol. 1

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Mike Walker reveals the method Hank Haney used to quit on Tiger Woods...

"I texted him last night [that I was leaving], and he texted me back," Haney told the station. "We went back and forth for a while, but he had his kids last night and couldn't talk. We are going to talk later today."

In a text message to GOLF.com, Haney stressed that he was not fired.

"This was my decision, and he [Woods] won't spin it any other way," Haney said. "There comes a time and a place for everything to move on. Now was the time for me to step aside. Simple as that.

"There is nothing to be sorry about."

Bob Harig offers this from Haney who is not letting his statement speak for itself.

"I've dealt with that for six years," Haney said Tuesday during a telephone interview. "That wasn't something that all of a sudden got to me. It's part of the job. If you have no critics, you have no successes. I've had plenty of success in my career, and I'm going to have some critics."

Doug Ferguson says "stepping aside was a gracious move by Haney." Who knew quitting could ever be confused with grace?

While the timing looks bad - Woods is at his lowest personally and professionally - Haney did not walk out on him. What he did was spare Woods from having to spin tales about their relationship for the next however many months. He also spared the media and the public from having to listen to it and speculate about it.

He spared him from having to lie. There's also that other option Tiger could try: telling the truth!

Steve Elling praises the decision, but for different reasons.

Given that nobody at the moment is pulling punches as it relates to expressing harsh opinions about anything relating to Woods' personal or professional life, it quite possibly was only going to get worse for the Texas-based coach. A gamble or not, Haney made the right decision.

Brandel Chamblee says Tiger should hire a Harmon to replace Haney, nominating brother Billy for the thankless job.

GolfDigest.com features a writer roundtable analyzing where Tiger goes from here with this swing, starting with this from Jaime Diaz:

I think the big change in the shape of Tiger's swing under Hank is that it emphasizes the arms staying more in front of the body on the downswing. The result is a slightly steeper angle into the ball, which has helped Tiger become a much better iron player, probably the best in the game. On the other hand, Tiger has for the most part lost the wider, sweeping action that characterized his swing pre-Hank. In those days, Tiger was a longer and overall better driver of the ball relative to his peers. Ultimately, I think Tiger's frustration with not being a better driver after several years of very hard work started to erode his relationship with Hank.

Peter Morrice, senior editor of instruction, Golf Digest: It seems unfair to judge Hank's contributions based on this year. Since they started working together, no doubt Tiger's learned to control the ball better on iron shots, and has added many more shots to his bag. But his driving is certainly not at the same level. And if you look back through history, you'll find great drivers and great iron players, but rarely a player who is both. Maybe the work he's done recently has focused too much on becoming a great iron player and not enough on hitting the driver in play.

Hank Haney Decides He'd Like To Spend Less Time Denying That He's Been Fired

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So here's the story.

Here's Hank Haney's website in case you didn't have it bookmarked.

Let's get to his statement. It's moving, I tell you.


I have informed Tiger Woods this evening that I will no longer
be his coach.

If it's by text or voice mail, do you think Tiger will share it with us?

“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.

Hear, hear!

“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.

Erase your texts, don't leave voice mails, make sure you have a really good short game if you are going to try the Haney method...that about sum it up?

So I believe at this time that it is in both of our best interests for me to step aside as Tiger's coach.

Now let me get this straight. A student goes to a teacher to become better. But in this case, the teacher decides he's learned from the student all he needs to learn for his own betterment and abandons the student at his greatest time of need? I'm just saying...

“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 has a dream come true. Just so there is no confusion I would like to make it clear that this is my decision.

Yes, we want to be clear that you are dumping your student at the absolute lowest point of his career.

Tiger Woods and I will always be friends,

I'm not so sure about that...

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.

Season three of my Golf Channel reality show!

“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.


And now that he's dumped his swing coach...oh wait, no, it's the other way around.

“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.

Just not right now in this time of need.

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


So, let's refresh our memories with some of Haney's recent comments. Last week, talking to Bob Harig.

"Tiger's record speaks for itself," Haney, 55, said Thursday by telephone. "If everyone wants to say it is my fault. ... People are entitled to their opinions. You can't do anything about that. But the results are what they are and the facts are what they are. What can I say?"

What Haney says is that he just received a quarterly payment, that he has not been told his services are no longer needed and that Woods is enduring a complicated time in his life that is bound to affect his golf.


Wonder if he'll be sending that quarterly payment back?

And a few days later, May 6, in a John Huggan column.


"I seriously doubt that if the things outside of golf hadn't changed so drastically for Tiger, then my teaching wouldn't be coming into question right now," Haney continued in an e-mail.

True, those wild tee shots and other wacky shots went totally unnoticed the last few years.

Tiger's Neck Is Both Awful And No Big Deal; Just Don't Say It's His Back

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The highlights from his AT&T conference call as reported by Doug Ferguson:

"I'm at a point now where I just can't go anymore," he said.

Woods said he's been taking anti-inflammatory drugs, but they have not helped. He plans to have an MRI when he returns to Orlando, Fla.

He said his schedule is "up in the air" and could be shaped based on what he sees in the MRI.

Woods insisted he can deal with the pain, which he feels in the right side of his neck, but cannot deal with the spasms that affect his ability to turn his head.

I heard from a source today that Tiger was doing full workouts with heavy weightlifting at his hotel even with this neck situation. Makes sense with a sore neck and a bulging di...err, neck issue.

Here's the report from yesterday that got the bulging di...err, you know, out there.

A few other things from the transcript.

Q. Just wondering about your back which you hurt yesterday and the reason you withdrew from the tournament; did you get any examinations or see any doctor about it?

TIGER WOODS: Well, it's not my back like it's been reported. It is my neck.
Yesterday I did pull out and it was because the pain is such that, yeah, it is annoying and it's painful, but I can deal with the pain. But once it locked up, I couldn't move back or through. I couldn't actually turn going back and I couldn't turn coming through.

This gave me a chuckle since he hasn't been to Riviera since his last WD and probably won't be back anytime soon.

Q. Why Aronimink? What made you choose Aronimink, as opposed to many other golf courses in the area? Had you ever heard about it before? Have you ever played it before?

TIGER WOODS: Haven't played it. Been out here, walked it, been around it, but just it's also the rich history that Aronimink has. We were at Congressional, another golf course that has a rich history, and I have always been a proponent of why don't we go to golf courses that are like this. We don't get a chance to play too many golf courses like this; so it's a treat for us as players.

One of the reasons why you see a lot of players play Quail follow is it's a great golf course; Riviera, it's a great golf course; Torrey Pines. We don't get a chance to play old-style venues like this very often, and when you do, you take advantage of it. And Aronimink was as nice as can be to allow us to come here for two years.

"Last week: MC. This week: WD. Next event: TBD."

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Damon Hack on Tiger's WD Sunday:

The strangest six months of Woods's life — and maybe in the life of the PGA Tour — continued in Northeast Florida on Sunday as Woods ballooned an iron approach on the seventh hole, walked up to his playing partner, Jason Bohn, and withdrew from the tournament, citing a neck injury. Last week: MC. This week: WD. Next event: TBD.

Though Hack sounds pretty jaded about all things coming out of Tiger's mouth at this point, he does throw in this reminder for those taking issue with Tiger's honesty:

In fact, during his pre-Masters press conference, he acknowledged that he was treated at the hospital after his Thanksgiving night accident for "a busted lip and a pretty sore neck."

Steve Elling writes:

Outside of being served divorce papers while standing in the first tee box, the reincarnation of Woods career couldn't get much worse. Every time he seems to be at low ebb, the haymakers keep coming.

For the Tiger bashers, and there are legions of them at this point, the scandal and ensuing comeback has been the gift that keeps on giving. If you thought cosmic karma was involved in the feel-good story of Phil Mickelson winning the Masters as Woods made his comeback after a 144-day layoff relating to the worst scandal in golf history, well, providence and kismet were standing next in linne.

Michael McCarthy of USA Today reviews the various comments from television commentators, including a follow up from ESPN that Paul Azinger's job is safe in spite of his Swedish massage tweet.

The SI Confidential guys devote two pages to Tiger. A highlight:

Alan Shipnuck, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Hard to believe that in the prime of his career he could be an absolute non-factor for an entire season, but that's looking more and more likely now.

Jim Gorant, senior editor, Sports Illustrated: If Tiger were a stock, now would be the time to buy. Can't go much lower, but long-term, still lots of value. (I gotta stop reading Fortune.)

Michael Bamberger, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: You would have to be out of your mind to count Tiger Woods out. Even if he doesn't win for the next two years, he'll be back before he's done.

Van Sickle: I agree he'll be back eventually. I also agree that it's going to be longer than we thought. He's not going to step right back into it. I'd say he's not going to get there until his marriage situation is resolved.

Farrell Evans, writer-reporter, Sports Illustrated: I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this WD is an indication of Tiger's lack of desire and weariness about this period in his personal life and golf game. I think the pre-scandal Tiger is able to get through 18 holes and handle an injury with care. As to the question about the remainder of the season: I think it's possible that he doesn't play again until Pebble Beach. The summer is not lost.

Brooks thinks he knows why Tiger pulled out of The Players.