"I have informed Tiger Woods this evening that I will no longer be his coach,'' Haney said a statement on his website, just days after both he and the world No1 had insisted their relationship, dating back to 2004, would continue.
Hank Haney (born August 24, 1955) is an American professional golf instructor best known for coaching Tiger Woods and two-time major championship winner Mark O'Meara. A graduate of the University of Tulsa, Haney owns and operates four teaching facilities in the Dallas, Texas area.

At Quail Hollow, he turned in the worst performance of his career to miss the cut by eight shots and at the Players he withdrew six holes into the final round complaining of a neck injury, having just hit a succession of poor shots. Woods will have an MRI scan on his neck later today and, as for the standard of his recent performances, he cited his lack of competitive appearances as the principal reason for his mediocre play.

Nevertheless, it was evident to those who have followed Woods's game that his swing was not what it was during his prime, and that was even before he took time away from golf after the car crash outside his Florida home last year. Only last week Johnny Miller, the former US Open champion and now America's most respected TV golf analyst, called on Woods to "ditch all the Haney stuff" and go back to his former swing coach, Butch Harmon.

Woods's response was to reiterate that he and Haney would continue to work together, although the Kremlinologists of the PGA Tour noted that Woods's support for his coach was less than effusive and that he also spoke of making some wide-ranging changes to his golf swing – few of which appeared to chime with Haney's teachings.

Whether this caused any friction between the two men is unknown but in the world of top-class golf it is almost unknown for a swing coach to resign rather than be fired.

In his statement, Haney spoke warmly of his former employer's achievements. "Tiger has done the work to achieve a level of greatness that I believe the game of golf has never seen before and I will always appreciate the opportunity that I have had to contribute to his successes.

"I have also enjoyed the association that I have had with Tiger both on and off the golf course as I have had some incredible experiences. In coaching and teaching Tiger I have also learned a lot, not only about golf, but about people and life in general. "In many ways because of all of the time that I have spent with Tiger, I may have learned more from him than he has ever learned from me. So I believe at this time that it is in both of our best interests for me to step aside as Tiger's coach."




Tags: hank haney, century 21 department store, century 21, gordon brown resign, pacsun, gordon brown