Whenever Tiger Woods struggles, Hank Haney's job security becomes a popular topic. It's been that way ... well, since they started working together in 2004, yet here we are, five years later, and they're still a team. And Woods' major championship winning percentage with Haney (.300) is slightly higher than it was with Butch Harmon (.286). This seems important.Woods won for the fourth time this year at last week's Buick Open, and he's in position to do it again at Firestone. Still, the rumors remain. The latest -- that Dale Lynch, currently coaching Geoff Ogilvy and Aaron Baddeley, was in line for the gig -- has been debunked by the Brisbane Times' Peter Stone.
"Now, subsidiary gossip is that Australian Dale Lynch ... who is based in North Carolina, might get the job. His phone has been ringing hot with folk asking him if it's true. The one phone call he hasn't had is from Woods. Lynch has dismissed the rumour."
So there you go. Haney's job is safe. Or maybe it isn't. I have no insight into Tiger's relationship with his coach, but his recent comments about his performance this season after taking eight months off to recover from knee surgery seem to indicate that he's happy with the job Haney is doing.
"And to not only win [four times in 2009], but be as consistent as I've been the entire year coming back. That's one of the things I'm probably most proud of." Hard to imagine Woods doing that without Haney's help. Plus, as Will Brinson pointed out to me, Hank's all over EA Sports' Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10, which counts for something (unless it doesn't, obviously).
Of course, none of this matters if Tiger goes oh-fer in majors -- we'll definitely be hearing more about Haney. So there's that to look forward to.
Via Local Knowledge
