Interviewed By Guy Yocom
Photo By Dom Furore May 2005

Age 49 • Teaching pro • Dallas, Texas

I can't believe all this talk about how we need to scale back the golf ball and how far it's going. Are you hitting the ball too far? Has the game gotten too easy for you? To 99.9 percent of us, the answer is no. Golf is too darn difficult. Courses have gotten longer and more challenging. Fairways are irrigated so the ball doesn't roll, but they're mowed so tight it's like hitting off this table. Greens are so firm you don't leave a ball mark half the time, and they're twice as fast as they were 15 years ago. And the game has gotten too easy? For who, the top five players in the world? Keep making golf harder, and eventually it'll become like tennis and duckpin bowling. Meaning: dead.

I have a dog named Chunk. He's a Bouvier and weighs 100 pounds. When people come to my house, they see Chunk and immediately take a step backward. When Chunk senses their fear, he starts growling. I always have to be there to make sure there's no disaster. I'd told Tiger I had a dog named Chunk and that he was size large—that was all I told him—and the first time he met him, I heard the door open from another room and thought, Oh my God, Tiger's going to be torn apart. I bolted into the room just as Tiger was saying "Hi, Chunk" and patting him on the head. Tiger doesn't have a lot of fear about anything. My dog licked Tiger's hand and went back to sleep. Tiger gets along with dogs like nobody I've ever seen.

There are a thousand golfers who are tour-caliber ball-strikers. They truly seem to be a dime a dozen. There are many reasons they fail to make it to the tour—their short games might be inadequate, or they don't putt well enough, or they can't think themselves around the course. But I would say that the biggest thing that holds most people back is that they just don't pay a big enough price to be successful. It's so obvious, and I say it to players all the time. I get some interesting reactions. Sometimes you can see in their eyes a crestfallen look that tells you they'll work hard, but not too hard. Sometimes they stick around and keep trying, hoping against hope that their level of doggedness will get them there. But most of them don't.

Having watched all "The Big Break" episodes, I've concluded that those players don't need a break, what they really need is more game. The winners will get more than a big break, they'll get a reality check. Most people have no concept as to how good touring professionals are.

The thing that amazes me the most about Tiger Woods is that he has absolutely no quit in him. None. Last year at Tiger's wedding I had a chance to talk to his father, and I asked him how he instilled that in Tiger. Earl traced it to a junior tournament played on Tiger's 13th birthday. Even then people knew who Tiger Woods was, and the gallery sang "Happy Birthday" to him on the first tee. Earl told me that Tiger proceeded to play poorly, and in full view of everyone he began pouting, whining and slapping the ball around the course. Earl said he had never really gotten on Tiger before, but on this day he took him into the snack bar after the round was over, locked the door and they had a little talk. He told Tiger that his behavior was a disgrace and reminded him that the game of golf didn't owe him anything, the golf course didn't owe him anything, and that he, Earl, sure didn't owe him anything. He told him that pouting and whining were just other forms of quitting. Earl said Tiger didn't talk to him on the flight home and gave him the silent treatment for two more days after that. On the third day Tiger came up and told his father, "Pop, I heard every word you said. I promise I'll never quit again," and he never has. Tiger has 42 career victories and more than a hundred top-10 finishes, but it's his record cut streak that is the biggest example of the fact that he never quits.

Earl Woods, in my opinion, has done the greatest job in coaching with Tiger that anyone has done in the history of sports. That's the reason I told Tiger to not ever refer to me as his coach—I'm just his friend who helps him out once in a while with his swing. Tiger's parents, Earl and Tida, are his coaches, and they've done a remarkable job.

Moe Norman aligned his feet a bit to the right and hit a slight pull straight down the middle. Lee Trevino lined up to the left and hit a push cut, and Hogan had a square alignment. Two of the three best ball-strikers in history weren't lined up square to their target, so I tend to think that aim is overrated. The thing that isn't overrated is making a repeating golf swing. No matter what your aim is, if your swing repeats you're going to be a great ball-striker. I always say, if you can hit consistent shots, you can always find your aim.

Were it not for Mark O'Meara, there's a good chance you might never have heard of Hank Haney. Working with tour players gives the teacher instant credibility and implies he's vastly better than the guy down the street. The next thing you know he's charging $400 an hour for lessons. I'm not going to downplay my skill as a teacher, but I will say there are a good many everyday teachers out there who are passionate about what they do and are darned good at it. If you're a teacher and have one Mark O'Meara walk into your life, you would have to consider yourself very lucky. Behind every great teacher is a better student.