Tiger Woods’ ex-coach addresses LIV Golf’s impact on PGA Tour amid Scottie Scheffler vs Tiger Woods debate
Tiger Woods’ former coach Hank Haney has admitted that player movements to LIV Golf has weakened PGA Tour fields. The 69-year-old golf instructor was replying to a fan comment when he made the blatant admission.
For the unversed, PGA Tour’s Byeong Hun An stirred a fan fight on social media by comparing Scottie Scheffler’s highly successful 2024 season to Tiger Woods’ ‘best season.’ While some agreed to it, many slammed the comment, including Haney. Defending the 15-time Major champion, his ex-coach pulled up wins to start ratio between the two players and dubbed Woods’ 2006 season ‘special’.
Following this, a fan came out in support of Haney, writing:
“Let’s not forget the large number of top players on LIV either so an * on that number.”
Interestingly, Haney agreed to the fan’s point and replied:
“Unfortunately, this is true.”
It is pertinent to note that this isn’t the first time a golf insider has admitted to PGA Tour having ‘weaker’ fields. LIV Golf’s 2023 individual champion Talor Gooch faced major backlash earlier this year when he said the Masters deserves an asterisk if LIV players aren't involved.
Notably, 13 LIV stars contested the Augusta event while several others failed to make the final field. Scottie Scheffler won the competition.
Byeong Hun An compares Scottie Scheffler to Tiger Woods
Hank Haney’s comments on the PGA Tour fields came after Byeong Hun An made a controversial statement involving Scottie Scheffler and Tiger Woods. The South Korean golfer took to his social media to laud the reigning Masters champion and stated that his current season was “as good as” Woods’ best.
Byeong Hun An wrote on X:
“I don’t care what anyone says, Scottie this season was as good as one of Tiger’s best seasons on tour.”
Haney disregarded the comment by pulling out Woods’ event to win ratio from the 2000s. Several fans joined him in slamming Hun An’s choice of words. Following this, Hun An addressed that several people ‘got offended’ by his tweet. In response, he wrote that Scottie wasn’t ‘as good as Tiger’ but his 2024 season ‘definitely goes into one of the best.’
He went on to make a series of tweets clarifying that he was simply comparing the two players on a ‘season to season’ basis. Notably, he even compared the two PGA Tour stars to NBA legends Michael Jordan and LeBron James. He claimed that “one of the seasons LeBron played were close to one of MJ’s season.” The tweet left several Tiger fans upset.