Just in time for Tiger's press conference next week. A new excerpt is released
This book reveals quite a bit of personal info. I suspect Tiger got an advanced copy. Based on what has been released it's not a golf book.
Woods’s Distractions Detailed by His Ex-Coach
By NAILA-JEAN MEYERS and JULIE BOSMAN
Published: March 16, 2012
It may say just about everything you need to know about being part of Tiger Woods’s
inner circle that Hank Haney, his swing coach from 2004 to 2010, became
paralyzed with fear over asking Woods for a popsicle.
“When we were watching television after dinner, he’d sometimes go to the
refrigerator to get a sugar-free popsicle,” Haney writes in his book
“The Big Miss,” which comes out March 27. “But he never offered me one
or ever came back with one, and one night I really wanted one of those
popsicles. But I found myself sitting kind of frozen, not knowing what
to do next. I didn’t feel right just going to the refrigerator and
taking one, and I kind of started laughing to myself at how hesitant I
was to ask Tiger for one. It actually took me a while to summon the
courage to blurt out, ‘Hey, Bud, do you think I could have one of those
popsicles?’ ”
Woods said Haney could get a popsicle. But the story is one of several
in Haney’s book that offer glimpses into Woods’s personality, which was
been walled off to the public throughout his career.
The book documents the relationship between Woods and Haney, from the
first time they met, when Woods was 17, to when Haney quit, just as he
was feeling he was about to be fired in the wake of Woods’s return to
golf after the revelations of his multiple extramarital affairs.
The book has already received attention for the chapter titled
“Distraction,” which details Woods’s 2007 season, in which, in the wake
of his father’s death the previous year, Woods grew obsessed with
military training. He frequently attended three-day sessions with Navy
SEALs, which involved parachuting, hand-to-hand combat and firearms
training. After excerpts of the book were released by Golf Digest, Woods had a terse news conference at the Honda Classic last month.
But the Golf Digest excerpt did not include one of the more damaging
assertions by Haney about the effect of this training. Haney says he was
told Woods tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in an
exercise with the SEALs, not while running at home.
Haney grew concerned about Woods’s workouts and his focus on weight
lifting. Haney thought Woods was “inordinately interested in
muscle-building,” which Haney believed did not help Woods’s game and led
to injuries. He says that Woods injured his right Achilles’ tendon
doing Olympic-style lifts, not while running during testing for new Nike
shoes, as he publicly stated.
Another distraction that began in 2007 was Woods’s cellphone going off
more and more. Instead of turning it off or ignoring it, as he had
before, Woods took the time to answer it or check his texts. A few years
later, the world found out that the calls and texts were coming from
women he was having affairs with.
The book does not shy away from the scandal that shook Woods’s career.
That scandal and its aftermath make up the bulk of one of the book’s
eight chapters. And the book has a number of observations about Woods’s
marriage to Elin Nordegren.
Haney writes: “Tiger really liked her competitive streak and seemed to
enjoy treating her like one of the guys, needling her and even telling
raunchy jokes around here, which Elin didn’t seem to mind.
“But as life became more complicated, I thought Elin changed. By the
time she and Tiger married, she remained friendly but had become more
guarded, even in her own home. She and Tiger developed a calm, almost
cool relationship in front of other people, and conversations with them
tended to be awkward and strained. I never saw them argue, but they
weren’t openly affectionate either.”
After Woods won the 2005 Buick Invitational, his first stroke-play
victory in nearly 16 months and his first with Haney as his coach,
Nordegren wanted to celebrate. She pointed out that when she was a nanny
for Jesper Parnevik, his family would hold a party whenever Parnevik
won. Woods responded: “E, that’s not what we do. I’m not Jesper. We’re supposed to win.”
Haney writes that Nordegen was taken aback and her smile got smaller. He
noticed that “in the future Elin would keep her emotions under wraps
whenever Tiger won.” He describes several awkward encounters with the
couple after the revelations of Woods’s affairs, but includes brief
moments in which Woods was open about the state of his marriage and his
therapy.
Haney writes that the most revealing thing Woods ever said to him came
during this time, as he was preparing to come back to golf.
“I learned one thing for sure,” Woods said. “When I play golf again, I’m
going to play for myself. I’m not going to play for my dad, or my mom
or Mark Steinberg or Steve Williams or Nike or my foundation, or for the
fans. Only for myself.”
For the avid golfer, Haney provides detailed analysis of the changes he
tried to make to Woods’s swing, and the book has plenty of
student-teacher byplay, including e-mails that Haney sent to Woods
venting about his work ethic. Woods won six major championships with
Haney as his coach, and each win is given inside-the-ropes treatment.
Haney quit via text message in May 2010, and the book includes the
entire exchange with Woods, revealing a respectful yet acrimonious
departure but also Woods’s stubbornness as he insists the two were
“still going to work together.” Haney admits there is some bad b
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