Tiger Woods discontinued working with swing coach Sean Foley after four years that brought Woods back to prominence on the course, but did not produce a major championship.
“I’d like to thank Sean for his help as my coach and for his friendship,” Woods said on his website. “Sean is one of the outstanding coaches in golf today, and I know he will continue to be successful with the players working with him. With my next tournament not until my World Challenge event at Isleworth in Orlando, this is the right time to end our professional relationship.”
Foley began working with Woods after his personal drama and injuries combined to sidetrack his career that seemed destined to be considered the greatest ever. He struggled through the 2011 season, but in 2012, under Foley, won three times and last year was the PGA Tour Player of the Year with five victories.
Significant has been Woods’ failures in the major tournaments. He has been stuck on 14 majors–four short of Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18–since 2014.
Who will be Woods’ next coach? Or will he go it alone? Woods had significant success with Butch Harmon, who he worked with from 1993-2003, and won majors with Hank Haney at his service from ’04-’10. It is unlikely Woods would go back to Harmon, who has been critical of Woods in the past, or Haney, who wrote a book that disparaged Woods.
