Why Tiger Woods’ former coach says Tiger will win the PGA Championship

Tiger Woods took one swing. 

Hany Haney didn’t need to see another. 

Tiger Woods is going to win this week’s PGA Championship. 

One and won. 

On his podcast, Haney said he saw one of Woods’ swings on one video on one tweet. Woods’ swing coach from 2004 to 2010 said the 15-time major winner looked “awful good” as the PGA is set to begin Thursday at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. 

“I don’t know what he’s working on. Of course, who knows what he’s working on,” Haney said. “But I would say just this: His swing looks – I mean, when I looked at his swing, I just saw one swing on Twitter, and I thought that is exactly like I would try to get him to swing.”  

“He would never admit that he ever thought about anything I ever said, but I can tell you, that swing, to me, looks right on,” Haney continued. “Now that was one swing, he could get off, but it looked right on. I mean, right on. I mean, as good as I’ve seen him in a long, long time. I’m going with Tiger. I actually think Tiger is going to win.” 

Woods last played at the Memorial two weeks ago. He shot rounds of 71, 76, 71 and 76 to tie for 40th. Before that, Woods had not played since the Genesis Invitational in mid-February, missing events first because of ailment and then because of the PGA Tour’s three-month hiatus due to the coronavirus. 

That break, Haney said, could be a benefit. 

“I feel like he’ll be able to produce something,” Haney said. “How much mental energy has he used so far this year since the coronavirus? Probably about zero. None. Full tank for grinding. And when he has a full tank for grinding, I just cannot see him not coming with something. And if he comes with something and gets himself in the game – although, you know, generally, he’s got to be there after three rounds – but a couple under, a couple under, a couple under, he’s right there. 

“Yeah, I like Tiger. I really do.”

Haney said he also liked Brooks Koepka, the two-time defending champion, and Jon Rahm, the winner at the Memorial. And he liked Gary Woodland, last year’s U.S. Open champ, as a dark horse. 

“I go with the best players,” Haney said.    

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Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.

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