Teasers whet the appetite for Haney's book on Woods analysis

Golf Correspondent

Wednesday 29 February 2012

Tiger Woods has already said that "I'm not going to waste my time reading it", but the revealing book by his former coach, Hank Haney, is likely to be lapped up by many.

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nick rodger golf correspondent nick.rodger@heraldandtimes.co.uk

The Big Miss: My Years Coaching Tiger Woods is poised to appear on the shelves in the build-up to April's Masters and, ahead of the launch, a trickle of teasers have been released by the American magazine, Golf Digest.

Haney and Woods parted company in May 2010 after a six-year period during which the erstwhile world No.1 won 31 times on the PGA Tour, including six major championships. That spell was also marked by Woods' spectacular fall from grace following revelations of his private life in late 2009 when he confessed to marital infidelity."I was just in a position to observe greatness and anyone who observes greatness likes to share it," said Haney. The sharing has already started.In the first of the excerpts, Haney hints that Woods' self-confidence and belief were eroding as early as 2007 as he chased down Jack Nicklaus' record haul of 18 major titles. "There was more urgency and less fun," writes Haney. "He never mentioned [Jack] Nicklaus' record, but it started to weigh more heavily at every major. And Tiger's actions indicated he believed he had less time to do it than everyone thought."Haney also suggests that, even when Woods was at the peak of his dominance and putting the fear of god into his rivals, he was still battling his own, inner demons."One of the adjectives most often used to describe Tiger Woods was fearless. But the more I observed him close up, the more it became clear he wasn't," Haney says. "Sometimes, he'd remind me that he had never considered himself a particularly good driver, at least in comparison with the rest of his game. 'That's why my name is Woods,' he'd joke. 'Maybe it would have been different if I'd been named Fairway."In the final titbit, Haney reveals that Woods, whose late father Earl was a serving officer in the US Army, still pondered a career as a Navy SEAL, even in the midst of his all-conquering golfing crusades."I didn't know how he'd go about it but, when he talked about it, it was clear he had a plan. I thought, 'wow, here is Tiger Woods, greatest athlete on the planet, right in the middle of his prime, basically ready to leave it all behind for a military life'."Woods may not want to waste his time pouring over them, but Haney's words will surely be absorbed by a fascinated golfing public.

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Teasers whet the appetite for Haney's book on Woods analysis

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