Butch Harmon :: Tiger ‘hard to watch’

• Woods withdrew 11 holes into Farmers Insurance Open
• “Harder and harder to watch,” Butch Harmon said
• The former world No.1 need to “get help”

Butch Harmon, former coach of Tiger Woods, has said it’s becoming difficult to watch the 14-time major champion following his withdrawal from the Farmers Insurance Open yesterday.

Harmon was speaking on Sky Sports last night after Woods retired with back pain just 11 holes into the competition at Torrey Pines, a place where he has won eight times in his career, including the 2008 US Open.

The 71-year-old was on the range with Rickie Fowler next to Woods before the players got their rounds underway and said he showed no signs of injury at that point.

“It’s getting harder and harder to watch him. For the greatest player of our generation he is struggling in many ways; struggling with his health, struggling with his golf swing, struggling with his short game and as a fan of golf it’s hard to watch,” Butch Harmon said.

“Tiger was hitting right next to Rickie . He had a very good first warm-up. He was going at it with the driver very hard and looked as though he was set up to hit predominantly fades. He hit the occasional wild one but it didn’t show that he had any pain.

“We had the fog delay, came back out and once again Rickie was right next to Tiger warming up. We got to watch him again but I can’t say that I saw anything in his posture or his body language that there was an injury. But maybe there was.”

Woods’ withdrawal followed a career worst round of 82 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open last week and Butch Harmon also commented on the former world No.1’s swing as well as his short game troubles, an area of Woods’ game which was exceptional during Harmon’s spell coaching him between 1996 and 2003.

“It does look like he’s coming a lot from the inside and he was going at it so hard. On the range he goes at it controlled but with some speed but on the golf course he was swinging out of control in the hope that it went in the right direction. But obviously it did not,” Butch Harmon said.

“I’m not sure it’s with his technique, I’m not sure it’s mental but without having the opportunity to talk to him about what’s going through his mind about why he’s struggling so much with it, it’s hard to say. Obviously it’s not good because you can see he’s got no confidence.

“He’s going through a very bad period. He’s Tiger Woods. We all feel like he’ll get through it but it’s important that he gets help.”

Butch Harmon on Tiger Woods’ withdrawal :: Your thoughts

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