Tiger Woods, searching for his first official PGA Tour victory in nearly three years, got a little bit testy yesterday when he was asked about Hank Haney’s upcoming book.
Haney’s book is due to hit stores on March 27, about the week before the Masters. Haney, Woods’ former swing coach, in an excerpt released this week claims Woods went on secret training exercises to become a Navy SEAL and pondered giving up golf.
Woods, staying consistent with his initial reaction to the book, yesterday during his press conference at PGA National, site of this week’s Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., declined to comment on the excerpt or anything else that has to do with the book.
AP
LOADING UP: Tiger Woods tees off during yesterday’s pro-am at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Woods clearly feels betrayed by Haney, whom he once considered a friend, and his strategy when asked about the book, which is titled, “The Big Miss,’’ is obvious: Do and say nothing that might help promote the book.
In the excerpts, Haney claimed Woods’ quest to break Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships weighed heavily on him and deterred his performance.
“There was more urgency and less fun. . . . He never mentioned Nicklaus’ record, but it started to weigh more heavily at every major,” Haney wrote. “And Tiger’s actions indicated he believed he had less time to do it than everyone thought.”
When Woods was asked for his reaction about the book yesterday, he tersely said, “Well, I’ve already talked about it.’’
When asked specifically about the Navy SEAL story, Woods said, “I’ve already talked about everything. I’ve already commented on the book.’’
Though Woods stayed mum on the book, his agent, Mark Steinberg, ripped Haney in a statement, saying, “Based on the excerpts published today, Hank Haney’s claim that his book is about golf is clearly false. His armchair psychology about Tiger, on matters he admits they didn’t even discuss, is ridiculous.
“Because of his father [Earl, a military man], it’s no secret that Tiger has always had high respect for the military, so for Haney to twist that admiration into something negative is disrespectful. The disruptive timing of this book shows that Haney’s self-promotion is more important to him than any other person or tournament. What’s been written violates the trust between a coach and player and someone also once considered a friend.”
Haney, thin-skinned to criticism and a constant user of Twitter to promote his message, often likes to take his share of credit for the 29 wins, including six majors, that Woods won while working with him — something that also has annoyed Woods.
Woods also said he believes his putting has held him back from ending the longest winless stretch of his career.
“For the past year [I have] just looked at tournaments where I’ve putted poorly and where I’ve putted really well and what’s the common denominator,’’ Woods said. “A lot of it is the fact that I just have not put in as much time as I needed to. I certainly have increased chipping and putting now, now that I’ve got the full swing where I like to have it.’’
Woods is in a marquee group this week with Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter for the first two rounds. They will tee off at 12:30 p.m. today.
mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com
Hank Haney, Hank Haney, Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods tees, Palm Beach Gardens, Though Woods, Navy SEAL
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