Haney says players were never intimidated by Tiger

[jbishop15]

http://scorecard.golf.com/2014/03/11/the-big-diss-haney-says-players-were-never-intimidated-by-tiger/?sct=hp1&eref;=sihp

This is... kind of out of the blue. Also, I'm not sure if this is an insult (as the article suggests) or a compliment.

Thoughts?

[turtleback]

Isn't it interesting that the only time you hear anything about or from Haney it is him once again using his (past) association with Tiger to try to get attention for himself?

[MS256]

I don't see anything there as an insult or a compliment. Just sounds like somebody talking about the way he saw it to me.

[Lihu]

http://scorecard.golf.com/2014/03/11/the-big-diss-haney-says-players-were-never-intimidated-by-tiger/?sct=hp1&eref;=sihp

This is... kind of out of the blue. Also, I'm not sure if this is an insult (as the article suggests) or a compliment.

Thoughts?

I just did the survey in the link, and answered "Yes. It was a media creation. Tiger won because he played better"

[Golfingdad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by turtleback

Isn't it interesting that the only time you hear anything about or from Haney it is him once again using his (past) association with Tiger to try to get attention for himself?

Don't make the same mistake people are making about Patrick Reed when they say "he's talking about himself."  Reed answered questions asked of him, that's it.  Same with Haney.

Quote:

Haney, the former Woods swing instructor turned bestselling author turned SiriusXM satellite radio host, was in New York’s Times Square on Tuesday to promote TaylorMade’s SpeedBlade series of irons .

Asked if Tiger still carries the same aura about him, Haney responded ...

That doesn't sound like a man out there trying to get attention from Tiger.  It sounds like a man who's working for Taylor Made and answered a question posed of him.  And, by the, way, I think he answered it honestly, and I think he's right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MS256

I don't see anything there as an insult or a compliment. Just sounds like somebody talking about the way he saw it to me.

I see it as a compliment towards Tiger AND everybody else.  He earned everything, and they made him earn it.

[jbishop15]

I just did the survey in the link, and answered "Yes. It was a media creation. Tiger won because he played better"

Me too. The only thing that irks me about this article is that reminds of the shit that Dan Jenkins said about Tiger not having the heart of a champion because he never won from behind.

I don't think Haney's a bad dude. He actually seems pretty knowledgable on Twitter and I really enjoyed his work on the Haney Project. Its just weird that this stuff pops up.

[newtogolf]

I'd usually slam Haney but in this case he gets a pass.  What he says makes sense to some degree, playing in the final pair has to be filled with pressure regardless of who you are paired with.

Where I might disagree, is that Tiger usually attracts the largest gallery whether he's in contention of not.  If you happen to be in the final pair with him, you will have the largest gallery of Tiger fans all pulling for Tiger to win following you, which has to increase the pressure even a tiny bit more.

Haney is in a tough spot, he coached Tiger so people are going to ask him questions about him.  I'd don't mind when he answers questions, I do mind when he just volunteers information or writes a book about Tiger that he enjoys the proceeds from.

[mchepp]

This comment is very different than comments he has made in the past. The last one he made about Tiger's preparation was out of line because he has only knowledge of how Tiger used to prepare not how he prepared for that US Open. Those seemed to be him trying to stay in the limelight using Tiger's name. This one Hank could have had this opinion even if he never coached Tiger. This is more a general opinion that anyone in golf could have had.

I also think the media played it up a bit. Sensationalizing what Hank said.

[Conrad]

He's right. Tiger just flat out played better down the stretch than everyone else. Just in the past 2 years we've seen countless 54 hole leaders fall by the way side. I don't know the exact stats but the percentages are much more with the field rather than the 54 hole leader at least the past few years. Golf is a hard game and its even harder when your in the last group out on the course.

I never believed that seeing Tiger on the course or on the leaderboard had as much of an effect that people said it did. It was an idea that media created and everyone bought into. I can believe that there were situations that Tiger roars could have affected guys on the course. I think it has to be difficult for any golfer to hear the crowd going nuts and wondering what happened and then see Tiger posted an Eagle or chipped in or what have you. At the end of the day you still have to play vs the course and not vs the other guys on the leaderboard.

I will say this as an aside. I think its extremely hard to be paired with Tiger compared to any other golfer but not because of the intimidation factor but because of the mobs that follow Tiger. Crowds are 100X bigger when you are paired with Tiger. More fans with camera's out, more fans hooting and hollering and just more exposure with media and such following. But that's something completely out of Tiger's control on the course and something that has nothing to do with the intimidation factor.

[Lihu]

It's also possible that the common person hears about how strong Tiger is at the "mental game", and interprets it as "Tiger wins through psychological warfare."