Don’t chide Foley for Tiger’s woes

The sun came up on Monday morning, Sean Foley well aware of the impending reverberations to hit the golf world, his tenure as Tiger Woods’ swing coach having been brought to an end with a news release that was posted on the golfer’s website.

Foley knew what he signed up for back in 2010 when Woods called him on the Saturday night of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, his struggles on a Firestone Country Club course he otherwise has owned a clue that his game was a mess at the same time he was trying to put his personal life back together.

Woods would need more than a year to win again, but he captured nine worldwide titles under Foley’s guidance, including five in 2013, a player-of-the-year season in which he had the second-best scoring average, the best all-around ranking, as well as the season money title.

Woods has missed four majors under Foley due to injury Getty Images News: Woods parts ways with swing coach Foley But Woods didn’t add to his 14 major titles under Foley, posting four top-10s in 12 attempts while also missing four majors due to injury.

While the golf swing experts can pick apart the various nuances of the swing and try to decipher what Woods is doing right or wrong amid Foley’s influence, the fact is that there is too much that is unknown.

Was Woods struggling because of his back problems or were the back problems in some way caused by Foley’s teachings? Woods said all the right things in the announcement Monday, praising Foley for his work and calling him “one of the outstanding coaches today.” Although Woods remains friendly with Harmon, their separation was complicated, and was due in part to Woods’ desire to find a golf swing that protected his left knee – the one that still required reconstructive surgery in 2008.