Butch Harmon unveils intriguing journey to becoming Tiger Woods' coach - “He was like a trophy that needed to be polished”
The first time Tiger Woods and Butch Harmon interacted with each other was in 1993, just after the then budding golfer lost in the second round of the US Amateur Open. Tiger's father Earl Woods was looking for a coach, and there was no one better than Harmon, who was then training golf star Greg Norman.
Their relationship soon began on the golf course, as Butch Harmon began coaching Woods to make his debut in the pro golf world. Woods' raw ability and talent were immediately visible on the course. Speaking about their first interaction, Harmon said via Golf Monthly:
“When I first saw Tiger swing a club, standing there was a tremendous amount of natural, raw talent. He was like a trophy that needed to be polished. The natural ability needed to be brought along, but the raw talent and self-confidence of the young man were amazing.”
Harmon immediately realised that Tiger Woods was an aggressive player. He did not have much of a game plan or a particular swing style that he followed. Harmon said that Woods just hit the ball as hard as he could, and the ball found the fairway.
"I won’t try and be his golf coach if you don’t try and be his dad": Butch Harmon tells Tiger's father Earl Woods
Seeing Woods play, Butch Harmon was impressed. He made the terms of his coaching clear to Earl Woods, saying:
“I said to Earl that if I work with your son and then he goes home and you dispute what I am saying, it probably wouldn’t work. So if you don’t think you can turn him over to me, it is probably not a good thing. Earl said, ‘I’ll make a deal with you: I won’t try and be his golf coach if you don’t try and be his dad’. That was fine with me.”
Thus began Harmon's journey coaching Tiger Woods and playing an integral role in the legendary golfer's career. They parted ways 10 years later. During that time, Woods had already won eight out of his 15 total Majors, including two 'Tiger Slam' runs in 2000 and 2001.