Tiger Woods' ex-coach sounds off on bad 'logic' comparing LIV Golf and PGA Tour

Hank Haney, a well-known coach who has had Tiger Woods as a student (among other top golfers), is also popular for his comments on X. This Monday, September 16, he addressed one of his recurring topics, the controversy between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.

Woods' former coach was responding to a fan's comment on X that LIV Golf is no less "real" than the PGA Tour just because it plays to 54 holes. This was Haney's post:

"What makes a 4 day tournament real and a 3 day tournament not real? Is a 200m race not real but a 400m is? Is a 250 mile race not real but a 500 mile is? Is 32 person bracket not real but a 64 person bracket is real? This logic I just don’t get."

In an earlier post, Hank Haney responded to the same fan's comment by stating that the world of men's professional golf needs to be "reinvented.

"No matter what happens times have changed, the top players are only playing 20-22 tournaments a year all over the world, realistically how often weeks a year would they all play together, 8-10? The whole thing needs to be reinvented."

The fan's comment that prompted these responses from Tiger Woods' former coach was related to the need for all the world's best players to play together again. The fan also called LIV Golf a "joke":

"You know what I’m getting at Hank. For the good of the sport, there has to be an agreement reached. The LIV tour is a joke as it stands now and we all want to see the best players compete against each other in real 4 day tournaments."

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A look at the history of Tiger Woods and Hank Haney

Hank Haney has received numerous accolades during his coaching career, including being inducted into the World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame in 2019. However, coaching Tiger Woods is one of the highlights of his career.

Haney and Woods began working together in 2004 after the 15-time Major champion ended his relationship with the renowned Butch Harmon. Woods and Haney worked together until 2010.

During that time, Woods won 32 PGA Tour tournaments, including six Majors. He also won 3 times on the European Tour (now the DP World Tour):

PGA Tour

1. 2004 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship
2. 2005 Buick Invitational
3. 2005 Ford Championship at Doral
4. 2005 Masters Tournament
5. 2005 The Open Championship
6. 2005 WGC-NEC Invitational
7. 2005 WGC-American Express Championship
8. 2006 Buick Invitational
9. 2006 Ford Championship at Doral
10. 2006 The Open Championship
11. 2006 Buick Open
12. 2006 PGA Championship
13. 2006 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational
14. 2006 Deutsche Bank Championship
15. 2006 WGC-American Express Championship
16. 2007 Buick Invitational
17. 2007 WGC-CA Championship
18. 2007 Wachovia Championship
19. 2007 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational
20. 2007 PGA Championship
21. 2007 BMW Championship
22. 2007 The Tour Championship
23. 2008 Buick Invitational
24. 2008 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship
25. 2008 Arnold Palmer Invitational
26. 2008 U.S. Open
27. 2009 Arnold Palmer Invitational
28. 2009 Memorial Tournament
29. 2009 AT&T National
30. 2009 Buick Open
31. 2009 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational
32. 2009 BMW Championship

European Tour:

1. 2006 Dubai Desert Classic
2. 2008 Dubai Desert Classic
3. 2009 JB Were Masters

Haney resigned as Woods' coach in May 2010, one day after Woods withdrew from the final round of the Players Championship.