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Tiger's Main Man

Butch Harmon on what it's like to teach golf's best players

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By Butch Harmon

With Guy Yocom

Photos by Dom Furore

March 2001

Butch Harmon doesn't sit in his low-slung leather chair so much as melt into it, his body surrendering at once to a rare moment of physical comfort. Harmon is whipped. His head and neck are blotchy with fatigue, his eyes gray and sagging from lack of sleep. His cross-country red-eye flight from the Presidents Cup, where he gave Tiger Woods a last-minute tuneup, landed in Las Vegas at 3:30 a.m. It's now 9:30 a.m., and Harmon is ready to talk.

It's easy to see why Harmon is tired. He has answered all the calls his fame has brought him. He has produced instruction books and videos, opened a chain of golf schools bearing his name and is preparing to design golf courses. He also teaches Darren Clarke and Mark Calcavecchia after having worked with Greg Norman, Davis Love III, Seve Ballesteros and Steve Elkington.

It is a calling for which Claude "Butch" Harmon Jr. is uniquely suited. The eldest son of Claude Harmon (1948 Masters champion, teacher and raconteur), Butch, 57, has spent virtually his entire life in golf. He has gone on all the rides, playing the PGA Tour for a time and teaching everyone from Bruce Willis to King Hassan II, serving at prominent clubs across the country. Butch has what they call "deep roots."

In this interview with Senior Writer Guy Yocom, Harmon reflects on all kinds of topics: backyard barbecues with Ben Hogan, painful memories of Vietnam, racial slurs he hears hurled at Tiger, and what it's like working with the best player in golf one day and a 36-handicapper the next.

Golf Digest: Since the past seven years of your life have involved Tiger Woods, I thought we'd start there.

Butch Harmon: I assumed you'd want to fit Tiger in there somewhere. Shoot.

As the person closest to him, what do you suppose is the hardest thing about being Tiger?

The demands on his time. Tiger Woods is like the Beatles were in the '60s. It's more extreme than it was with Michael Jordan, because Tiger is in a sport where you can approach him. One thing is for sure: There has never been a golfer who has had to put up with what Tiger puts up with. Not even close.

Give an example.

There are times when people have physically tried to grab him -- aggressively. If it were me, I would've just turned around and hit the guy. But Tiger, he just kind of moves away, and the security people make sure the people give him some space.

But the most difficult thing I've endured in the seven years I've been with Tiger Woods is listening to all the racial slurs that people holler at him. It's sickening, and it still happens to this day.

How do you respond? How does Tiger respond?

If it's a practice round and I happen to be walking down the walkway behind Tiger and I hear the guy, I'll have him removed. I've gone to the security people or tournament people and said, "This guy needs to get out of here. This is what he said."

Tiger hears this stuff, but he can't turn and wheel on the guy, because that's what the guy wants. The type of individual who shouts out a racial slur wants the confrontation. Tiger is very good about blocking it out. He'll walk up to the next tee and say, "Did you hear what the guy said back there?" I'll say, "Yeah. Disgusting. Don't even think about it."

It's pretty sad.

Just when we think Tiger has transcended race...

But Tiger really has transcended race. It's obvious that the vast majority of people don't see color when they look at Tiger.

Photo: Getty Images

How much of his success in golf do you feel you're responsible for?

I don't know. I feel I've had an influence on Tiger, his golf swing and the way he handles situations. But Tiger was going to be a great champion with or without me. Very often the coach gets too much credit. Tiger would have been an outstanding player whether he'd worked with Jim McLean, John Jacobs, me or several other teachers I really admire. This is a guy who couldn't be held back. I'm very proud to say, however, that all my players have improved on my watch. That's the only way an instructor can judge himself.

Understand, too, that a lot of what I've taught Tiger, especially in the short game, I learned from Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros, my dad and so many others. I'm just passing stuff along. It isn't like I invented the wheel. On the other hand, all my players have different golf swings. I'm proud of that -- proud I do not teach a system. I've always believed you teach people to play golf instead of teaching golf to people. If you teach golf to people, you teach them one way. I don't go for that. I go by my dad's theory, that everybody is an individual.