Now this is what you call piling on.
Just one day after Tiger Woods withdrew from The Players Championship final round with a mysterious neck injury, his coach, Hank Haney, has ditched the golfer.
This is a stunning development and one that illustrates just how far Woods has fallen since his sex scandal broke late last year.
Haney, whose job supposedly has been in jeopardy for a while as Woods has struggled, told Golf Channel last night that he is sacking Woods after working with him since 2003 — and not the other way around.
“Just so there is no confusion, I would like to make it clear that this is my decision,” Haney said in a statement last night. “Tiger Woods and I will always be friends, but I believe that there is a time and place for everything, and I feel at this time and at this place in my life I want to move forward in other areas.”
Sources familiar with the relationship between Woods and Haney told The Post that one of the reasons the coach is walking away is the fact that his status has been in a constant state of uncertainty. Sources said Woods’ communication with Haney was spotty at best — particularly during the period after his life began spiraling out of control.
As Woods continued to struggle off the tee — one of the things he went to Haney to correct in the first place — speculation that he would fire the coach gained momentum.
When asked at The Players Championship if he’s still with Haney, Woods gave a very brief answer: “I’m still working with him, yeah.”
A day later, NBC analyst Johnny Miller unloaded on the Woods-Haney teaming, saying that Woods “needs to go back at look at tape of the 2000 U.S. Open and copy what he was doing then and forget the Haney stuff. What he’s working on now — and I have no disrespect for Hank Haney — is not working.”
A day after that, Woods mocked reporters for speculating that he was going to fire Haney.
“Hank and I talk every day, so nothing’s changed,” Woods said. “According to the press I’ve fired him five times by now.”
Well, after six years together, Haney decided to fire Woods, rocking the tenuous world of the world’s No. 1 player.
After Woods won eight major championships and reconstructed his swing under his former coach, Butch Harmon, he won 31 PGA Tour events and six majors in his six-plus years working with Haney.
Where does Woods go from here?
His marriage, by all reports, is over, with all that’s remaining the divorce papers to be served. That, of course, means he doesn’t have his two children living with him.
His health is now in question with what he said he believes might be a bulging disk.
His swing is in disarray and now, he has no coach.
There were some rumblings that Woods reached out to Harmon back in January. But Harmon is working with Phil Mickelson, whom he reveres, and he had an ugly falling out with Woods.
As for Haney, he might be the only person who ever has fired Woods.
“I have informed Tiger Woods this evening that I will no longer be his coach. I would like to thank Tiger for the opportunity that I have had to work with him over the past six-plus years. Tiger Woods has done the work to achieve a level of greatness that I believe the game of golf has never seen before and I will always appreciate the opportunity that I have had to contribute to his successes.
“I have also enjoyed the association that I have had with Tiger both on and off the golf course as I have had some incredible experiences.”