Tiger Woods is notorious for his secrecy. Since crashing like a meteor into the golf scene in 1997, Woods has always guarded himself from media attention. On the rare occasions he spoke publicly, details about his personal life were sporadic and sparse.

So, most of the time, fans rely on his close friends who have seen him up close to understand the man behind the shell of an iron. Although most people thought Woods was introverted by nature, his former coach revealed the veteran golfer was hard-pressed to put up a wall around him.

Tiger Woods, seen through the eyes of his former coach

Sean Foley is a man who has followed Tiger Woods like a shadow for four years. As a coach, he has witnessed the ups and downs of the legendary golfer, both professionally for his struggles on the course and personally for his relationship troubles, when the media cut him into bits.

How did Tiger Woods react? How does it feel to watch a larger-than-life personality shrink down to a mere mortal like us? We all wondered about it and only got one or two bites from people who were there with the 15x major winner at that time. When Foley, being one of them, sat on the No Laying Up podcast, these questions were inevitably brought up.

His former coach feels Tiger Woods guarded himself closely after experiencing betrayal from his close associates. This was his way of saving himself from further controversy. “I think that he had to alter himself a little bit to put this wall around him. You know, a lot of people did him wrong.”

Although Woods’ detractors have chewed out the 47-year-old golfer for his lack of commitment in his personal life, his former coach’s comments have surely thrown a new light on the matter. But it’s indeed true that the veteran golfer has not been able to replicate his winning streak in his dating life; the Erica Herman lawsuit is a sobering reminder of that.

Woods’ troubled history with women in his life

Woods never publicly disclosed his breakup with Erica Herman. So, the sudden disclosure of the $24 million lawsuit came as a shock for golf fans worldwide. As per sources, Herman had an NDA with Woods that allowed her to stay in the latter’s sprawling mansion. However, Herman claimed she was ousted by trickery.

Read More: Tiger Woods and Erica Herman: Who Broke Up the Relationship and Why?

Before this, Woods had had trouble maintaining a steady relationship. In 2009, the guardrails of Woods’ personal life broke down as his marriage troubles came to the forefront, leading to an ugly split with Elin Nordegren. Woods also briefly dated Olympic gold medalist Lyndsey Vonn in 2014. However, dating a sports personality also didn’t work out for the 82-time PGA Tour winner.

Tiger Woods, arguably the greatest golfer since Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, is a classic case of the dichotomy of fame. On one side, he was worshipped as the GOAT by his fans; on the other hand, according to close friends, he didn’t allow anyone to penetrate deep into his soul.

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