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Golf Monthly
Golf Monthly
Sport
Matt Cradock

Tiger Woods' Former Coach Claims 'PGA Tour Owe That Guy Everything'

Tiger Woods walks down the fairway with coach, Sean Foley.

Throughout the history of professional golf, Tiger Woods has arguably had the biggest impact on the game, with the American a 15-time Major winner and accumulating 82 victories on the PGA Tour circuit.

Not only is he one of the most successful and recognizable golfers to walk the planet, but he has been one of the biggest influences when it comes to the talk of prize money in the PGA Tour. Since arriving on the scene, the money on offer has increased massively.

One of golf's mega stars, Woods has worked with a few coaches throughout his career, with one of his previous acquaintances, Sean Foley, claiming that the "PGA Tour owe that guy everything."

Foley and Woods at the 2013 Masters (Image credit: Getty Images)

Speaking to No Laying Up, Foley stated: “To be able to spend time with him like that and get to know him and just see the sheer difficulty of his life, that type of fame and that type of notoriety, you wouldn’t wish it on anybody.

"I think the game of golf, especially the PGA Tour, they owe that guy everything because purses are not here today because of the business development aspects of the PGA Tour. It’s all due to a black kid in a red shirt from Orange County, California.”

Previously working with Butch Harmon, a time which equated to eight Major victories, Woods has also worked with Hank Haney, Chris Como and Foley himself. They started in 2010 and, after four years together, which included eight PGA Tour wins and a return to the top of the World Rankings, the duo parted in August 2014.

Foley enjoyed major success with Justin Rose, with the pair working together for 11 years (Image credit: Getty Images)

Describing the stint as a “lifelong ambition of mine to teach the best player of all time in our sport,” the Canadian instructor, who has worked with the likes of Lydia Ko, Justin Rose and Danny Willett added “I think we did a pretty good job together.

“I think what I would have done much more, that I understand now is I would’ve probably spent less time coaching him and more time just being his friend as I was. Like how arrogant was I to think ‘Did you actually teach Tiger Woods about golf?’”

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