“Golf coaches RUINED Tiger Woods’ career”

Was Tiger Woods' career ruined by golf coaching?

“Whether he’ll win another tournament or not is debatable,” says one of golf’s greatest players.

“Tiger Woods had his career completely ruined by golf coaches.”

That’s the view of nine-time Major champion Gary Player, a man never short of a strong opinion.

“Tiger’s 14^th Major win was the US Open at Pebble Beach,” recalls Player, talking to YouTube channel KW Golf. “And he won by 15 shots. You know what that’s like? That’s like running the 100 meters in seven seconds. The next week, he’s having a lesson from a man who, if he played in The Masters, I don’t know if he could break 80. He couldn’t. But Tiger is having a lesson from this guy. And then he goes to another guy who probably couldn’t break 85 in The Masters or the British Open or the PGA [Championship]. And he’s having lessons from him. Why did Tiger do that?

“He was so good. But I understand he wanted to get better. But if he just went along and never changed he would have won a minimum of 22 Majors – maybe more. He would have gone down as the greatest athlete the world had ever seen, man or woman. But he made the wrong decision. And it’s very easy to do, because we’re all trying to get better.”

Player’s view that top golfers – he references Trevor Immelman, Mike Weir, and Michael Campbell alongside Woods – can be “ruined” by coaches who can’t match them on the course is an interesting one.

At the time of his 14th Major win, Tiger Woods was clearly the greatest golfer on the planet. Does that mean there’s no one qualified to help him? Virtually all elite golfers have regular sessions with coaches, most of whom never had careers as players.

It’s true that a desire to improve can sometimes lead to changes that have the opposite effect.

Luke Donald got to world number one in 2012 and then decided he needed to make wholesale swing changes to stay there. Within a couple of seasons he was registering more missed cuts than top-20s and slid outside the world’s top-100.

Martin Kaymer found himself atop golf’s ranking pyramid in 2011 and then decided to abandon his stock fade in the search for a draw. His game fell apart, with the German only refining some form when he reverted to his natural shot shape.

But are the coaches to blame? And do you need to be a great player to be a great coach?

Player seems to have forgotten that none of Tiger’s coaches, including Butch Harmon, Hank Haney, Sean Foley, and Chris Como, had distinguished playing careers. Harmon’s victory in the inaugural Broome County Open in 1971 is the highlight of their on-course achievements, but they still managed to help Tiger do pretty well.

Many of the world’s leading coaches in other sports weren’t top of their game as players. Think of Jürgen Klopp, Sir Alex Ferguson, José Mourinho, and Arsène Wenger in football. Nick Bollettieri was one of the greatest tennis coaches despite never playing as a professional. Vince Lombardi is widely regarded as the greatest coach in American football history, despite never making it as a player. 

As a golfer who’s had plenty of lessons in my attempt to improve, I’d be reluctant to take advice from someone completely unable to hit a ball, but beyond that I’m much more concerned about their knowledge and ability to help me than what they can shoot out on the course.

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About the author

Rob McGarr – Contributing Editor

Rob has been a writer and editor for over 15 years, covering all manner of subjects for leading magazines and websites.

He has previously been Features Editor of Today’s Golfer magazine and Digital Editor of todays-golfer.com, and held roles at FHM, Men’s Running, Golf World, and MAN Magazine.

You can follow him on YouTube where – depending on what day of the week it is – he’ll either be trying his best to get his handicap down to scratch or shoving his clubs in a cupboard, never to be seen again.

Rob is a member at Royal North Devon, England’s oldest golf course, where he plays off a three-handicap.