Golf

FOX Sports Exclusive

Only one way for Tiger to quiet all the whispers

Share This Story

Robert Lusetich

After more than 20 years of covering everything from election campaigns to Olympic Games, Robert Lusetich turned his focus to writing about his first love — golf. He is author of Unplayable: An Inside Account of Tiger's Most Tumultuous Season. MORE>>
Updated Apr 30, 2009 4:18 AM ET
     
 
Tiger Woods clearly has had enough of the whispers, growing louder since Augusta, that had him on the verge of firing swing coach Hank Haney. "That's complete speculation," a relaxed Woods said after Wednesday's Quail Hollow Championship Pro-am. "It has nothing to do with (Haney)." The likeable Haney, a soft-spoken Texan with a reputation for telling it like it is, bore the brunt of a post-round Woods tirade on the practice range at the Masters. Woods' caddie, Steve Williams, not needing to be told that his boss was in a foul mood after an exasperating third round, wisely exited stage left and went to get himself a sandwich when Woods stormed onto the range in search of the swing he'd somehow lost amid those famous Georgia pines. Haney, Woods says now, was just in the wrong place at the wrong time; nothing more should be read into the incident. It turns out Woods, who was as unhappy as he's ever been at Augusta, just needs to vent sometimes. "Usually, you just leave me alone," he said. "Let me vent for a while, and then I'll be ready to focus on what I need to do to get ready for the next day. "It's happened before. (Haney's) seen it before. Stevie has seen it. You've got to vent.
"We don't get a chance to do that because we come off the green, we do media right away. You're constantly 'on.' And I just need to vent for a little bit. Give me five minutes, 10 minutes, and once that's over, it's, 'What do we need to do to get ready to win this golf tournament the next day?'" Certainly it was painful watching a very grumpy Woods, able to make only the sourest of lemonades out of his Augusta lemons, half-heartedly attempt to exchange small talk with interviewer Bill Macatee in the seeming eternity before CBS crossed to him. Macatee, of all things, was telling Woods about his decision to start eating healthier breakfasts. The diet involved raisins or nuts, from memory. Not surprisingly, Woods — who, it should be known, has a voracious appetite and begins eating about a minute after he wakes at 5 a.m. each day — had little to contribute to the conversation. In the two weeks since Woods' tie for sixth at Augusta, to borrow from the parlance of the intelligence community, there has been a spike in the chatter level. The reasons for this spike are many, including the fact that some of Haney's peers don't think much of his swing theories, and their dissertations about what's wrong with his ideas are often parroted by the Tour players they coach. Then there's the fact that Woods has shown, especially with his sacking of Butch Harmon, that he's not afraid to shake things up. But the rumors gained traction this time mainly because of the off-key swings Woods made, especially during Sunday's final round at the Masters. Needing to shoot 63 on Easter Sunday, he began with a tee shot pull-hooked so badly that if it had gone any farther to the left, it would've ended up in Pyongyang.
"You're constantly 'on.' And I just need to vent for a little bit."
— Tiger Woods
Even when Woods, fueled only by his legendary will, somehow clawed himself back into the tournament — getting to 10 under par — poor swings led to anticlimactic closing bogeys. But Woods isn't blaming Haney or his swing ideas; the fault lies with the Indian, not the arrow — nor, it turns out, the medicine man. "I didn't hit the ball the way I wanted to, and I didn't make any putts," Woods said of his tie for sixth at Augusta, "I felt like that every day. It was 17 and 18 that hurt. I didn't finish my rounds the last couple days, and it cost me a chance to win the golf tournament." He admitted that it took him "a couple of days" to get over the disappointment of the Masters.

Tiger talk

Tiger Woods Should Tiger fire his swing coach? Will he win at Quail Hollow? Get the discussion going!
"Just wanted to go over what happened there and make sure I thought about what I did, right and wrong, and analyze it and prepare, and start game planning for the (U.S.) Open," he said. In the meantime, he tees off Thursday alongside Jim Furyk and David Toms at Quail Hollow — his fourth stroke-play tournament since his comeback — where he's a defending champion of sorts. He won here in 2007, then wasn't able to return to defend his crown last year because of surgery to his left knee. Although Woods is generally a glass half-full sort of guy, he didn't sound like one when asked whether the comeback after an eight-month layoff (two top 10s and a memorable victory at Bay Hill) should be seen as a success. "I've had people remind me to look at it that way," he said. "I have a hard time looking at it that way. It's just the nature of how I am. "You want to try and win every event you play in, and obviously I haven't done that this year, but I've had some success this year. "Sometimes, it's hard to look at it that way. Even the years that I've won nine times, eight times a year, you still look at all the times you didn't win."

More Stories From Robert Lusetich

World Golf Tour


Trending Now

Stories | Photos | Lists | Videos

GOLF Videos

Lusetich: AT&T Rd. 1 recap Posted: Feb 10, 2012
Robert Lusetich recaps Rd. 1 of the AT&T National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach.

Tiger Woods 13: Legacy mode Posted: Feb 09, 2012
Tiger Woods talks about the new 'legacy mode' in Tiger Woods 13.

Keeping up with Kuchar Posted: Jan 18, 2012
FOXSports.com talks with PGA Tour golfer Matt Kuchar.

MORE FOXSPORTS VIDEO »

Fox Sports Store

    itemName itemURL imageSrc price itemDescription
    Mitchell & Ness Los Angeles Lakers #8 Kobe Bryant Gold Authentic Throwback Basketball Jersey http://www.foxsportsshop.com/FOX_Los_Angeles_Lakers/browse/featuredproduct/124407/source/prsp_ca http://images.footballfanatics.com/FFImage/thumb.aspx?i=/productImages/_124000/FF_124407_xl.jpg&w=100 259.95 Mitchell & Ness Los Angeles Lakers #8 Kobe Bryant Gold Authentic Throwback Baske..
    adidas Milwaukee Bucks #22 Michael Redd White Home Swingman Jersey http://www.foxsportsshop.com/FOX_Milwaukee_Bucks/browse/featuredproduct/141061/source/prsp_ca http://images.footballfanatics.com/FFImage/thumb.aspx?i=/productImages/_141000/FF_141061_xl.jpg&w=100 29.99 adidas Milwaukee Bucks #22 Michael Redd White Home Swingman Jersey
    adidas San Antonio Spurs Black Primary Logo T-shirt http://www.foxsportsshop.com/FOX_San_Antonio_Spurs/browse/featuredproduct/172441/source/prsp_ca http://images.footballfanatics.com/FFImage/thumb.aspx?i=/productImages/_172000/FF_172441_xl.jpg&w=100 17.95 adidas San Antonio Spurs Black Primary Logo T-shirt
    adidas Los Angeles Lakers Purple Primary Logo T-shirt http://www.foxsportsshop.com/FOX_Los_Angeles_Lakers/browse/featuredproduct/172442/source/prsp_ca http://images.footballfanatics.com/FFImage/thumb.aspx?i=/productImages/_172000/FF_172442_xl.jpg&w=100 17.95 adidas Los Angeles Lakers Purple Primary Logo T-shirt
    adidas Miami Heat Black Primary Logo T-shirt http://www.foxsportsshop.com/FOX_Miami_Heat/browse/featuredproduct/173566/source/prsp_ca http://images.footballfanatics.com/FFImage/thumb.aspx?i=/productImages/_173000/FF_173566_xl.jpg&w=100 17.95 adidas Miami Heat Black Primary Logo T-shirt
    adidas Boston Celtics Green Primary Logo T-shirt http://www.foxsportsshop.com/FOX_Boston_Celtics/browse/featuredproduct/173567/source/prsp_ca http://images.footballfanatics.com/FFImage/thumb.aspx?i=/productImages/_173000/FF_173567_xl.jpg&w=100 17.95 adidas Boston Celtics Green Primary Logo T-shirt
    adidas Atlanta Hawks #15 Al Horford Navy Blue Road Swingman Basketball Jersey http://www.foxsportsshop.com/FOX_Atlanta_Hawks/browse/featuredproduct/178055/source/prsp_ca http://images.footballfanatics.com/FFImage/thumb.aspx?i=/productImages/_178000/FF_178055_xl.jpg&w=100 49.99 adidas Atlanta Hawks #15 Al Horford Navy Blue Road Swingman Basketball Jersey
    adidas Boston Celtics Green Primary Logo Long Sleeve T-shirt http://www.foxsportsshop.com/FOX_Boston_Celtics/browse/featuredproduct/179331/source/prsp_ca http://images.footballfanatics.com/FFImage/thumb.aspx?i=/productImages/_179000/DS_179331_xl.jpg&w=100 19.95 adidas Boston Celtics Green Primary Logo Long Sleeve T-shirt
    adidas Boston Celtics #5 Kevin Garnett Green Road Swingman Basketball Jersey http://www.foxsportsshop.com/FOX_Boston_Celtics/browse/featuredproduct/182418/source/prsp_ca http://images.footballfanatics.com/FFImage/thumb.aspx?i=/productImages/_182000/FF_182418_xl.jpg&w=100 59.99 adidas Boston Celtics #5 Kevin Garnett Green Road Swingman Basketball Jersey
    adidas Denver Nuggets Light Blue Primary Logo T-shirt http://www.foxsportsshop.com/FOX_Denver_Nuggets/browse/featuredproduct/188059/source/prsp_ca http://images.footballfanatics.com/FFImage/thumb.aspx?i=/productImages/_188000/DS_188059_xl.jpg&w=100 17.95 adidas Denver Nuggets Light Blue Primary Logo T-shirt