It’s coming, and soon (late March) – a tell all book about Tiger Woods written by one of the people who was closest to him, his former instructor Hank Haney.
The book is titled The Big Miss, a name that has “multiple meanings” according to Haney. That is, super wild drives and a big missed opportunity, which was not entirely made clear in Doug Ferguson’s story about the book. But, as for the wild drives, the irony is that these misses were as much a knock on Haney’s deficiency as an instructor as they are about Woods’ lack of talent with the big club.
When Woods and Haney started working together, Woods must have viewed him as a trusted friend, a belief that was probably fostered by his naiveté, and the fact that Haney was highly recommended to him by his close friend, Mark O’Meara. As a result, Woods did not require that Haney sign a confidentiality agreement, a practice that is standard for most of his employees.
And yet, from the beginning Haney, unbeknownst to Woods, began his plotting against his boss,. According to Ferguson, “Haney said he knew all along he would be writing a book. He took notes and kept his observations in diaries, then waited to find the right publisher and someone - Diaz - to help him with the book.” And we wonder why Woods has trust issues.
The book was co-authored with Golf Digest’s Jaime Diaz, who among all writers was as close to Woods as anyone. He’s one of the best, so there is no doubt that The Big Miss will be an enjoyable read. And his participation also matches the shift in Golf Digest’s editorial policy towards Woods, which is not so protective now that he no longer writes for the magazine.
So, we have a book about Woods that will likely tell us much about his championship mindset, practices habits, workout routines, and more. And, we also have a book that reinforces the notion that Haney is a world class opportunist who used Tiger in any and every way possible to build his brand and his fortune, Woods be damned.
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4 responses so far ↓
1 BD // Jan 10, 2012 at 6:38 am
You should change the headline, Phil! From your headline, it sounds like like you’re calling TIGER the opportunist.
As for the article itself, I wonder if other top players are going to think twice about hiring Haney, knowing that everything they say to him could end up in a book.
2 Phil // Jan 10, 2012 at 6:44 am
BD, Thanks for the suggestion - I made the change! Haney seems to be done with tour players. He made his name, he has all of his other stuff going for him, and I think top players would rather work with instructors with less questionable theories.
3 Matt // Jan 13, 2012 at 1:07 pm
Yes, you can call Haney an opportunist but he already has millions of dollars. I doubt this is about money. He was the coach of the greatest player of all time. I’m sure he’d like to put his thoughts and observations down so they can be read 100 years from now. I don’t think there is anything wrong with it. It should be really interesting to learn more about how Woods works and practices.
4 BD // Jan 16, 2012 at 1:08 pm
If he was just recording his observations for the sake of history, he could have shipped off the sealed manuscript to the World Golf Hall of Fame to be opened in 100 years. Or he could have just published them now, for free. I’m not saying either of these choices is realistic, but it also doesn’t strike me as all that realistic that Haney wrote this book for any reason other than the notoriety and money it would get him. Which is fine, except for the fact that a lot of people would look at the coach-player relationship as sort of private and not a proper subject for a book unless both parties are on board with it.
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