The Loop

Watch out, Westwood! Five coaching changes that for better or for worse, happened

News that Lee Westwood had joined Sean Foley's star-studded pupil list (which also includes Tiger Woods and Justin Rose) got the golf world excited on Tuesday. Is this the man who will finally help him win a major?

Related: The 10 Best Golfers Without A Major It's quite possible, but no one's really sure, because over the years high-profile coaching changes have proved both masterstrokes and disasters. Here are some of the most notable player-coach break-ups: __Nick Faldo from David Leadbetter__After the British tabloids dubbed him "Nick Foldo" for his inability to close in majors, Faldo sought out up-and-coming coach David Leadbetter. Faldo revamped his swing and won all of his six majors under Leadbetter's tutelage, but it was a public and ugly break-up: Faldo reportedly ended the relationship via fax, something Ledbetter called a "slap in the face." #iframe://www.youtube.com/embed/juqzzN5Aj9E|||

__Tiger Woods from Butch Harmon, Hank Haney__When Tiger left Butch -- the man who helped him play what many now believe was the best golf of his career -- for Hank Haney in 2004, the split wasn't great, but not nearly as ugly as the Tiger-Haney divorce. With rumors rife that Tiger was ready to can his new coach after a successful swing change together, Haney quit in the aftermath of Tiger's infidelity scandal and wrote a tell-all book (with Golf World Editor-in-Chief Jaime Diaz), "The Big Miss." Related: Book Excerpt: The Big Miss

__Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els to Butch Harmon__It was all very cordial when Mickelson and Els both left their respective coaches, Rick Smith and David Leadbetter, for Butch. Both felt they needed a change as their careers enter their final stage and were both rewarded: each winning majors under their new coach.__Aaron Baddeley from Mike Plummer and Andy Bennett__When the Stack & Tilt method burst onto the scene, Aaron Baddeley was the face of it. He won his first and second PGA Tour events in consecutive years using the swing and broke into the top 20 in the world. But after shooting 80 in the final round of the 2007 U.S. Open - he entered the day with the lead -- Baddeley ditched the instructors and has won only once since.

/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2015/07/20/55ad768cb01eefe207f6c60c_golf-tours-news-blogs-local-knowledge-blog-stack-and-tilt-460.jpg