I remember following Tiger for an entire round at the 1995 Open while he was still an amateur. I was a big fan of Tiger Woods, but over the years my support waned due to media obsession, Tiger's demeanor, and Steve Williams. I don't have any real interest in gossip about Tiger, but after reading some comments about the insight that the book offered, I thought I would give it a try.
The book accomplished one thing. Somehow, it managed to lower my opinions of Tiger, Haney, and Stevie. I would never have thought that possible.
I didn't actually buy the book, but used my Audible subscription for it. I often listen to audio books while walking the dog, and in the case of The Big Miss my picking up dog crap seemed an apt metaphor.
Haney pretty much whines throughout the entire book. Tiger didn't listen to him. Tiger didn't appreciate him. Tiger wouldn't give him enough credit. The media wouldn't give him enough credit. And so on. The whining nature of this wasn't helped by having to listen to Haney read the book. A few of Hank's observations:
Tiger wasn't as good as he looked under Butch
Tiger's 2000 Masters performance was helped by a tip that Haney gave to Tiger (this was before he was his teacher)
The driver yips are likely Tiger's big problem. Interestingly, Hank figured this out because he had the same problem himself.
2010 would have been the year Tiger returned to dominance if not for.....
Haney often did not give Tiger feedback due to fears of making him mad and hurting communication.
Tiger wasn't willing to work hard enough in the later years of Hank's tenure.
Tiger wouldn't congratulate Stevie & Hank after a win, so those two had to congratulate each other.
It seems that those two had a bizarre relationship. From the first time they started working together, Hank stayed at Tiger's house. But if one believes what Hank writes, they also barely managed to communicate. It's really not clear what sort of relationship they were supposed to have, but Hank sounds like he wanted to be Tiger's mental coach & BFF at the same time, while Tiger could barely even be bothered to share popsicles with him.
Haney's worst offense is quoting conversations that he had with other people about Tiger. It's arguable whether or not he has the right to talk about something Tiger told him, but quoting people like Corey Carroll (a friend of Tiger's from Isleworth) seems really out of line. Yeah, Tiger may have acted like a jerk to most everyone he knew, but isn't that for them to complain about?
The Big Miss is a good title for this book, but mainly because that's what the book is.