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SALT LAKE CITY — Tiger Woods' swing coach now is Sean Foley. Of course, Hank Haney coached Tiger for 6 years when he won 6 majors and had a total of 32 wins.
That led to Hank Haney to becoming a TV star with his Hank Haney Project on the golf channel where he tried to fix Charles Barkley's Swing.
It didn't work.
Now Haney's come out with a line of shoes he is endorsing. The Crocs golf shoe.
I had a chance to chat with Hank Haney this week to talk shows, Tiger and U.S. Open.
This is my Q&A with Hank Haney.
Rod Zundel (RZ): Tell us about these shoes you have in your hand.
Hank Haney (HH): This is part of my shoe line from Crocs, the Hank Haney collection. Crocs is knows for making really comfortable shoes and now they're making comfortable golf shoes. They're light, they're stylish, they're comfortable as the whole trend today is you wear them to the course and from the course. This is a great gift for a father who golfs.
RZ: Now moving to the course.
I've always wanted to ask you, how do you coach a guy like Tiger, so talented it would seem he could just look in the mirror and figure out his swing?
HH: Nobody can see themselves so it's a little harder to fix themselves than you think. Obviously he is incredibly talented and he go a long way toward fixing himself, but you just try to lead him in a certain direction, I mean that's what I was trying to do just point out certain things and point out mistakes that I saw them and let him figure it out in his own way. That's the main route that I took.
RZ: Tiger is the favorite in every tourney he plays, but from when you were his coach to now, do you like his swing?
HH: I think his golf swing is pretty darn good right now. It's changed a little bit but that dramatically. People make a big deal about how much it's changed but I don't think it's changed that much but I like it. He's won four times this year and it's all about winning and hitting shots. he's probably not quite as good hitting iron shots as in years past but he's still awful good.
RZ: What about Phil Mickelson? He's been a runner up at the U.S. Open a record 5 times. His swing seems to be inconsistent. Does he have a shot at the Open or is his time passed?
HH: No I don't think so but it's one tournament a year. One tournament a year you have to be "on" that week and have to have a great putting week with a good ball striking week and it's hard putting those two together. I don't think Phil's time has passed especially on a short course like Merion. I think without a doubt that this will be a great course for him. Short game is going to be a factor here and he has a good a short game as anybody so I give him a good shot at contending at this years U.S. Open.
By the way, you check out Hank Haney golf shoes at Crocs.com
