Tiger’s agent blasts ‘ridiculous’ book

Tiger Woods’ agent has lashed out against Hank Haney’s book, saying his “armchair psychology” about Woods was “ridiculous” and that it was clear the former swing coach only cares about self-promotion.

Haney’s book about his six years as Woods’ coach is titled, “The Big Miss.” It goes on sale March 27, a week before the Masters. Golf Digest began releasing excerpts on Tuesday. Haney’s book was written with help from Jaime Diaz, a writer at the magazine who covered Woods more extensively than anyone over the years.

In one of the excerpts, Haney said his job became more difficult in 2007, when Woods had 12 majors and was getting closer to the record 18 won by Jack Nicklaus.

“There was more urgency and less fun... He never mentioned Nicklaus’ record, but it started to weigh more heavily at every major,” the excerpt said.

Haney said the objective of revamping his swing was to preserve his left knee. He added Woods considered becoming a Navy SEAL. Woods’ father, Earl, was a green beret who did two tours in Vietnam.

Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent, said excerpts show Haney’s claim of the book being about golf is “clearly false.”

“His armchair psychology about Tiger, on matters he admits they didn’t even discuss, is ridiculous,” Steinberg said. “It’s no secret Tiger has always had high respect for the military, so for Haney to twist that admiration into something negative is disrespectful.”