It may say just about everything you need to
know about being part of
Tiger Woods
’ inner
circle that
Hank Haney
, his swing coach from
2004-10, became paralyzed with fear over asking
Woods for a popsicle. “When we were watch-
ing 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 sum-
mon the courage to blurt out, ‘Hey, bud, do you
think I could have one of those popsicles?’ ”
READ MORE
What could come between Woods and Haney? Popsicles?
Phil’s popularity with fans and gentle treatment
from the media add to Tiger’s annoyance. For
years, Tiger reveled in the idea that Mickelson
had trouble playing in his presence. But Phil ad-
justed, and in recent years he’s outplayed Tiger.”
READ MORE
A LIFE IN FULL
John P. English
, who grew up at a time when
amateur golf trumped the professional game
and went on to work for a decade as the USGA’s
assistant executive director under Joseph P. Dey,
died March 6 at age 101 in Yarmouth, Mass. Eng-
lish grew up in Massachusetts, where he learned
the game at Plymouth Country Club from
Henry
Picard
, who would go on to win two major cham-
pionships in a Hall of Fame career. English once
played against
Babe Ruth
, became friends with
Francis Ouimet
and
Bob Jones
, was a golf writer
for the
Boston Herald
, and served both the
Massachusetts Golf Association and the USGA.
MISSED OPPORTUNITY
The trouble about reaching 91, which I did
last October, is that regrets for a misspent life
are bound to creep in, and whenever you see me
with a furrowed brow you can be sure that what
is on my mind is the thought that if only I had
taken up golf earlier and devoted my whole time
to it, instead of fooling about writing stories, I
might have got my handicap under 18. If only
they had put a putter in my hands when I was 4
and taught me the use of the various clubs, who
knows what heights I might not have reached?
It is this reflection that has always made my
writing so sombre, its whole aroma like that of
muddy shoes in a Russian locker room. l
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
Zoom level
fit page
fit width
A
A
fullscreen
share
print
download
clip
SlideShow
fullscreen
Open Article
article text for page
< previous story
|
next story >
add comment
|
read comments
Share this page with a friend
Save to “My Stuff”
Subscribe to this magazine
Search
Help
