Tiger Woods' former coach Hank Haney joins TaylorMade-adidas after his Nike Contract matures
Tiger Woods' former coach, Hank Haney of the Sean Foley and Haney verbal bout fame, has decided to switch ranks with the sponsors after his lucrative Nike deal comes to an end. Haney had been long contemplating to sign in a deal with the golf equipment giant
TaylorMade-adidas for several years now and has been a brand ambassador for the Nike clubs as his contract with the company is coming to an end.
Haney and TMaG CEO, Mark King met some three years ago at Pine Valley where they played together for a while. King and Haney both envision the same ideas for the promotion of the sport on an international level, emphasizing the need to help the junior players
to come off age and also to promote the sport in Asia.
Haney remained associated with Woods for a long period of time, bringing considerable change in his swing. He helped the 14-major winner to change his swing from upright to a flatter one and encouraged the player to keep the club closer to the body and to
swing in the direction of the address.
After switching coaches from Butch Harmon to Haney in 2004, Woods received a boost in his winning percentage which soared from 22% to 35%. Despite his burgeoning injuries in successive years, his percentage rose to 44%, mostly because of Haney’s incorporation.
The duo parted ways when Woods' extramarital affairs were made public and Haney decided to leave Woods when he withdrew from the Players Championship due to a neck spasm. Woods blamed Haney for some defects in his swing which he rectified himself.
Haney later pacified the media.
"I feel great," Haney wrote. "I am incredibly appreciative of the opportunity that I had to coach Tiger Woods. I appreciate the fact that you have seen through all the smoke screen and have taken note of Tiger's record with me helping him. That is the bottom
line as far as I am concerned. Needless to say, I am very proud of my record with Tiger Woods."
Haney has now broader ideas for the promotion of the game on world level and is hopeful his association with TaylorMade will bear fruits in the near future. He runs four training schools in Dallas, Texas and has a Junior Academy at Hilton Hills which is
training some 150 students from 30 different countries.
Haney is also planning to open a school at Gargantuan Mission Hills resort in China which is proving to be the next generation of the sport in recent times. Haney’s decision to sign up with TaylorMade is more than obvious as the two entities are poised to
tap the lucrative Chinese market in the near future.
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