Harmon fears for Woods

Snubbed coach Butch Harmon reckons that Tiger Woods could go from hero to zero.

Since he was sacked by the World No 1, Harmon has watched Woods’ swing unravel in alarming fashion.

And wounded Harmon believes that if Woods doesn’t improve soon, he could be on the same slippery slope as fallen Open champion David Duval.

He rapped: “Is there a way back?  That will be interesting to see. We saw David Duval try and change his game and saw the troubles he has had.

“Tiger Woods has become a person that likes to control everything he does himself. 

“Over the years, he’s matured but whether it is for better or worse, only time will tell. Now everything has to be his idea, his decisions, in everything he does.  

“I think we have to give him this full year to let him work on the new mechanics of they way he is trying to swing and see if it works after a full year.

“If he is still driving the ball all over the place, like he has been all this year, then you have to say that he probably made a mistake in trying to change.

“But at this point the jury is still out about whether it is right or wrong.”

Since they famous duo split last last year, relations between the two have been decidedly frosty.

And Harmon has ruled out any chance of a reconciliation with Woods and a new beginning for one of the most famous partnerships in sport.

He added: “It hurts sometimes, when you read things he has said,  as recently as in Golfweek Magazine last week. He said he ignored about 90 percent of what I told him and that hurt because we both know that it’s not true.

“It’s a different Tiger Woods today. It’s a Tiger Woods that likes everything to be his idea and likes to be in total control of what does. And that’s fine. That’s part of what he is. 

“It’s allowed me to work with so many more players and that’s fine with me. That’s why I don’t think it will happen again. I have no desire to go back there and be in that situation again.

“If Tiger Woods called me and said, look, I’m in Las Vegas could you spend a few hours watching me and give your opinion, I’d be glad to give my opinion. Now he was in Las Vegas last week and he didn’t ask. He was at the other end of my range, giving a clinic actually.

“So he’s not going to ask and I’m too busy to go back through that again. I sat in that hot seat for ten years - let someone else sit in it.”

Harmon believes that Woods is now a changed man he coached from a raw teenager to World number 1 in the space of ten years.

But he confessed that that the Golden One deserves more time as he attempts to regain the perfect swing that brought him the US Open, the Open championship and the US PGA titles in that incredible 2000 season.

He conceded: “I think you have to cut Tiger a little slack, in that when I worked with him to change his swing in ‘98, it took a whole year for him to feel comfortable with it. 

“He only won once in the US and once outside the US in ‘98 and everybody was asking what’s wrong with Tiger Woods.

“I think you have to give him this year to see if what he is trying to do in his swing works.  I, for one, don’t particularly like the way he is swinging compared to the way he used to swing. 

“Tiger Woods is the greatest player the game has ever seen. Jack Nicklaus is the greatest champion, but Woods is the greatest player. It remains to be seen whether Tiger Woods will be the greatest champion.

“It’s going to take a lot of years and a lot of consistent play like Nicklaus had. But there has never been anyone who has had the physical capabilities and the talent that this kid has.

“And I think it is a tribute to how good he is to how he finishes now for how poorly he plays for himself, not in comparison to other players. We try to compare other players to him. 

“But for how we are accustomed to see Tiger Woods plays, he plays poorly now. And I think it is a tribute to him that he still contends and can still win the way he is playing.”

But Harmon is not suprised that Woods has gone down his own route with the golf swing.

“You have to understand, I worked for Tiger Woods for ten years and he has always been a tinkerer. 

“In that ten year programme, even in all the work we did,  he would always tinker. He’s always been an inquisitive type of guy. 

“Personally, I think he has gone too far. I don’t like the golf swings he is making now, with his arms so far behind him and his inability to square the club through the ball.

“I mean, you never see him hit the stinger shot any more, which has been his bread and butter shot. He now comes from a position he can’t do it any more. But we’ve got to give him a year.”

Harmon believes that Woods needs to get out the video of his swing from 2000 if he is hit fairways and begin to dominate the game again.

“It’s the best I’ve ever seen the golf club swung by any human being. Why you would want to change that it beyond me. I’ve heard through the grapevine that he has gone back to his 2000 swing to try to reproduce those swings and so far he hasn’t been able to do it. 

“We’ll see what happens. If he can figure out how to drive the ball in the fairway at Shinnecock Hills, he’ll probably win the US Open. 

“But so far this year he has not been able to drive it in the fairway.”