Former PGA Tour professional Brandel Chamblee called out both Tiger Woods and his former coach Hank Haney over a change to the 82-time winner’s golf swing, dubbing the 2004 change the “craziest thing in the history of sports”. Haney worked with Woods for nearly six years, winning 31 titles together, including six major championships.
But Chamblee, a one-time tour winner-turned-analyst, believes that the decision to overhaul Woods’ swing was an unnecessary risk that has only backfired since.
In what became statistically Woods’ strongest swing, Haney weakened his client’s grip, put the top of the club in a slightly flatter position and dropped his head slightly because he had not moved off the ball as much in the backswing.
During this stretch Woods won 41 per cent of PGA Tour events and stood at world No. 1 for 281 consecutive weeks, breaking the record he previously set himself.
However, Chamblee felt that Haney was in no position to urge Woods to make such a drastic overhaul to the swing that Butch Harmon initially worked on.
He told The Dan On Golf podcast: “Hank Haney was telling Tiger Woods how to play golf and Hank Haney had the driver yips. He couldn’t hit a range.
“And this guy is telling Tiger Woods how to change his golf swing from the greatest golf swing in the history of the game.”
But ultimately the decision lies with Woods, who Chamblee criticised over a “crazy” switch-up which took place amid a stellar run of form.
He added: “Tiger Woods had just won four majors in a row, The Players and the Canadian Open all in a span of a year.
“He was in the middle of making 142 cuts in a row and he was winning by 12 and 15 and eight shots in these major championships – and he changed that golf swing.
“So, I am now sitting down for the first time at a desk as an analyst. And the first question I get is, ‘Why would he change that golf swing?’
“It’s the craziest thing in the history of sports what Tiger Woods did. Absolutely, without question, there is nothing that comes close in the history of sport.”
In 2010, at the PGA Championship, Woods began working with Sean Foley and injuries started to affect his swing – prompting another change.
Woods’ grip suddenly became stronger, removing a wide takeaway which lost momentum of a shift to the right, forcing the swing to become shorter and flatter.
In March 2013 he became number one again, shooting up from 58th in the world, but three years later he was out of the top 500 for the first time in his career and his time on the course has been increasingly unsuccessful ever since.
Many, including Chamblee, will wonder how his career could have been different if there were no changes to Woods’ initial swing.
