Sean Foley has revealed that he once saw Tiger Woods preparing for The Open Championship by wearing waterproof clothing while practicing in 100 degree heat on the range in Florida.
Woods completed the Career Grand Slam by winning The Open Championship in 2000. In total, he has lifted the Claret Jug on three occasions.
While he never finished second at The Open, Woods only registered more top-10s at The Masters than he did on the British links.
How Tiger Woods would prepare for The Open Championship while still in Florida
Clearly, the preparation he did was crucial to Woods’ success at The Open. Butch Harmon has previously spoken about the 50-year-old hitting shots in PGA Tour events that he would only need at what is now the final major of the year a few weeks later.
And speaking on Feel vs. Real, Foley explained how Woods would not leave a single stone unturned, even when he was still in the United States.
“One of my favourite Tiger stories is when I went down to Jupiter and it is right before the British Open, and it is 100 degrees out, humidity is 100 per cent. And the big man’s at the corner of the range in rain gear. Remember, he sweats faster than anybody. One shot and he’s dripping off the beak of his hat. So he’s dripping sweat. At this point, we have a thing where I only speak if I’m spoken to and we talk at lunch,” he said.
“I just set the Trackman up, I want to see a couple of things. He’s hitting, he’s hitting, he’s hitting. And then I notice right around the mid-iron, he’s a little bit slower and the face is a little bit more open. He goes, ‘you notice anything?’ I’m like, ‘yeah a little diminishment in clubhead speed and the face is a little open’. He’s like, ‘yeah, I noticed that’. He’s like, ‘hey, when I get to the British Open, can you remind me when I have the longer club, just remind me that I need to feel like I unweight my left foot a little more so I can complete my backswing’.
“So I get in the car and think that was really fascinating. That was pretty interesting.
“We get to the British Open and listen to everyone teeing off in the rain on Thursday complaining that they can’t swing in rain gear. That’s just the little tiny part. It doesn’t sound crazy, but he knew. He doesn’t like rain gear, who likes playing in rain gear? Who actually likes playing golf in rain or the cold? I don’t think anyone, maybe Shane Lowry. I think he wants that every week. But everyone is just there, ‘man, Adidas doesn’t make the right rain gear. Oh my god, I can’t even do this’. And the big man’s just out there lifting his left heel up and everything stays the same. It’s intriguing.”
The games Tiger Woods would play in practice to improve
Woods and Foley began working together in 2010 before parting ways four years later.
Unfortunately, it was not the most successful period of his career. Woods did not win on the PGA Tour until the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2012.
Nevertheless, Woods’ determination to improve could not be questioned. Foley explained what the 15-time major champion would often do in practice to help him get better in a number of areas.
“Tiger, at home in Orlando, I’ve never seen anyone play worst-ball more than that guy. He played worst ball six days a week. And then we would play the back tees with only long irons. And then he would play the back tees, the middle tees, and the front tees and all for score. He turned Isleworth into 65 different golf courses on any given week. And the problem with your home course, when we were in junior golf, what kid had a travelling handicap as good as it is at his local home course? When we would play the local home course, we don’t even need a laser, we’ve just hit that shot so many times,” he said.
“We would play nine holes and he would take one less iron, back foot it and hammer it. And then the next nine the next day, he would take six iron where he would hit seven and chip it. Then I get on tour and everyone says to me, ‘I’m no good in between clubs’. And I’m like, ‘well, you don’t even practice it’.”
While Woods was unable to add to his tally of majors during his spell working with Foley, he did ascend back to the top of the world rankings in 2013.
Woods spent another 60 weeks at the summit of the game before Adam Scott overtook him in May 2014.
That remains Woods’ most recent run at the top of the world rankings, meaning that he has spent 683 weeks at number one across his career.
It will surprise no one to learn that is more than double the amount of time any other player has spent as world number one.