FanHouse Hank Haney

People these days know Hank Haney as the instructor of Tiger Woods, the best golfer in the world, but Haney is more than that. He's been instructing golfers for 32 years, teaching over 200 touring pros in that span. Haney now owns and operates four teaching facilities in Dallas, Texas, and is the star of The Golf Channel's The Haney Project, which puts Hank with celebrities that want to improve their game. Along with that, Haney has signed a deal with Charles Schwab that includes a program they've called "Talk to a Pro," which allows Haney to give special tips about the golf world.

FanHouse caught up with Hank right before the Presidents Cup, and talked to him about Mark O'Meara, Tiger Woods and what he would do to evaluate someone in a first lesson. Read the exclusive FanHouse interview below.

Whenever Tiger Woods struggles, Hank Haney's job security becomes a popular topic. It's been that way ... well, since they started working together in 2004, yet here we are, five years later, and they're still a team. And Woods' major championship winning percentage with Haney (.300) is slightly higher than it was with Butch Harmon (.286). This seems important.

Woods won for the fourth time this year at last week's Buick Open, and he's in position to do it again at Firestone. Still, the rumors remain. The latest -- that Dale Lynch, currently coaching Geoff Ogilvy and Aaron Baddeley, was in line for the gig -- has been debunked by the Brisbane Times' Peter Stone.

Tiger Woods might not have fixed his problems off the tee, and his continued struggles in that area of his game will almost certainly encourage his doubters to keep beating the "It's clear Tiger is on the downside of his career, even if we don't have any proof!" drum.

And Woods, as he's done with unimaginable frequency during his 14-year professional career, will keep winning.

The Buick Open was Tiger's first tournament since missing the cut at the British Open in mid-July. He spent last week working on his swing in Florida with coach Hank Haney, and for the fourth time this year, Woods played 72 holes better than anyone else in the field. He finished 20-under, three clear of Roland Thatcher, John Senden and Greg Chamlers, none of whom ever threatened the lead.

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Shortly after Tiger Woods missed the cut at the British Open, it began. The talk that Hank Haney, Woods' swing coach since 2004, needed to go. It happens almost every time Woods doesn't win, even though Tiger's major championship winning percentage is slightly higher with Haney (.300) than Butch Harmon (.286).

But that's part of the deal when working with the world's best golfer: instant celebrity at the expense of klieg-light scrutiny. Yesterday, as Woods prepared for a three-tournament stretch in as many weeks (culminating in the PGA Championship), Haney spoke about the expectations that come with being a part of Team Tiger. Via ESPN.com's Bob Harig:

Each Wednesday during the golf season, FanHouse will list the top five names in golf and why they're important. Did Barack play 18 with Tiger? Did a certain player do something controversial off the course? Or was just playing golf enough to get the pot stirring? Join us for a weekly feature we call Making the Cut.

5. Rick Rhoden -- Who said 50-year-old golfers can't win the occasional golf tournament? Rhoden, 56, claimed his eighth (8th!) Lake Tahoe Celebrity Championship last weekend, beating out Dan Quinn and Tony Romo. As Ryan pointed out after the victory, Rhoden has earned more in his "celebrity" golfing than he ever did during a season as a major league baseball player.

It doesn't matter how well Tiger Woods has previously played, or how many top 10s he has logged, when he has a poor week -- especially if that somehow includes a missed cut -- the reaction is predictable: Tiger needs to a) fix his swing and b) jettison Hank Haney for good measure.

I can't disagree with tightening up his swing -- Tiger looked like a 4-handicapper at Turnberry -- but Woods continues to support Haney, at least publicly. Skepticism remains (via Gold Digest's Local Knowledge blog):

On a day when 59-year-old Tom Watson was going for his ninth major victory, former Major League pitcher Rick Rhoden, 56, won for the eighth time at the Lake Tahoe Celebrity Championship.

The victory earned Rhoden a cool $125,000, which brings his career winnings at Tahoe to $1.13 million. Some perspective: the most Rhoden ever earned during a baseball season was $900,000, in 1989 with the Houston Astros.

For those interested in the final-round details: Rhoden ended the weekend with 74 points in the modified Stableford format (he fired a 2-over 74 on Sunday), outlasting ex-NHLer Dan Quinn, a four-time winner at Tahoe. Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who led the event after the first round, finished third.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is an accomplished golfer. In the past, he's just missed qualifying for the U.S. Open, shot 84 at Torrey Pines the week before the 2008 Open, and played with Tiger Woods in the AT&T National Pro-Am two weeks ago. He also logged a third-place finish at last year's Lake Tahoe Celebrity Golf Championship

So it's not all that surprising that he would be leading the event after one round this time around. Romo has 27 points in the modified Stableford format (thanks to seven birdies, three of which game on the first four holes), two points ahead of former Major League pitcher and mustache enthusiast Rick Rhoden, a seven-time winner at Tahoe.

Maybe Charles Barkley's golf swing can't be fixed. He spent the better part of a year working with Hank Haney, Tiger Woods' coach, and any improvements in his game can kindly be described as imperceptible.

The Golf Channel got "The Haney Project" out of it, easily the most popular program in the history of the network, so there's that. But if Haney, who charges non-celebrity hackers $500 an hour for a session, can't do anything with this, that might be Chuck's cue to cut back on the public golf appearances. You know, in the name of not maiming innocent bystanders.

Eleven days ago, this was news: Tiger Woods and Hank Haney were working hard to fix his driver. Actually, that's been the story for most of Tiger's career, but it was especially relevant because he was coming off an uninspiring performance (as uninspiring as another top-10 finish can be, I guess) at Quail Hollow, and the Memorial and the U.S. Open were the next two tournaments on his schedule.

Tiger went out and hit 84 percent of his fairways at Jack's event, won convincingly, and now that the golf universe has righted itself, we're all able to get on with our lives. For Woods that means preparing for Bethpage Black, and in his spare time, trying to fix the unfixable: Charles Barkley's golf swing.