Hank Haney worked with Tiger Woods for six years (2004 to 2010). During this period, the 48-year-old won a whopping 31 titles on the PGA Tour. This includes six major championships. So, does the success partially belong to Haney too? One could argue, and well, that is exactly what happened. 

The veteran coach shared a tip on X, stating, “You want to lower your handicap? Eliminate penalty shots, eliminate two chips, and eliminate three putts, pretty simple formula.” After this, one fan commented under the post asking, “And how did Mr. Woods react to the advice?”

Haney retweeted the post and bluntly stated that he was a part of Woods’s career during his prime days. He replied to the question by saying, “Statistically the most prolific time in his career. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but no one is entitled to their facts.”

Haney and Woods parted ways in 2010, and then Haney wrote “The Big Miss,” recapitulating his time with the GOAT. The golfer did find the book to not be in good taste but the coach argued otherwise. Having worked together for so many years, they share a comfort level, and a certain level of honesty. For this, Haney is more often than not brutally honest about Woods’s gameplay.

A few days ago, Woods was teaching his short-game techniques to Collin Morikawa. While reposting, Haney adorned the video, stating, “Tiger is a little more advanced than most of the other greats, actually a lot more.” 

At the 2023 Hero World Challenge, Woods finished in the 18th position. This tournament was his comeback after being away from the greens since the Masters. When speculations of his comeback became the hot talk, Haney disagreed saying, “Look to be in excruciating pain like he was last year.” And well, he was somewhat right. Woods did play less this year and called it a season after missing the cut at The Open. 

Despite the rift after the book, Haney stated that the duo will always remain friends, despite not working together. There seem to be sparks of rekindled friendship between them, but this was not always the case.

Was Hank Haney unprofessional for writing about Tiger Woods?

Hank Haney’s book The Big Miss: My Years of Coaching Tiger Woods had the entire journey of the duo together in professional golf. But it turns out, the 82X PGA Tour winner did not take it very well. He called the book self-serving and publicly criticized it, saying, “I think it’s unprofessional and very disappointing, especially because it’s someone I worked with and trusted as a friend.” 

He also went on to add that there have been several other books that have one-sided stories about him narrated, and well, most of them were to earn money, and he would not be wasting his time reading the book. However, Haney took to this and stated that his only intention was to share the greatness of the 48-year-old with the world, and he did not quite get why he was accused of being unprofessional for this.

“People speculate all the time about him, but they are guessing, I was there, I spent 150 days a year with him for six years,” Haney said. “He was incredible, just unbelievable.” In his defense of being called unprofessional, Haney clarified his stance and emphasized that the memories were his to share and that what he was doing was within his right, especially since people often asked him about working with Woods. “I’m not sure I understand the unprofessionalism part. He hasn’t read the book. There’s a lot of positives in there,” said Haney.

What are your thoughts on Hank Haney and Tiger Woods’s relationship?