Team Tiger: the men who failed to spot trouble coming

In establishing “Team Tiger”, Tiger Woods has followed principles taught to him by Earl Woods, his late father, a US Marines officer who fought in Vietnam.

Mr Woods Sr taught him to look after himself and to trust only a few people. Team Tiger consists of Mark Steinberg, his manager, Hank Haney, his swing coach, Steve Williams, his caddie, and Bryon Bell, president of Tiger Woods Design. They have to be discreet about their work with Woods, be loyal to him, do their job well and at all times put Woods’ requirements before their own.

Mr Steinberg, 42, a law graduate of the University of Illinois, has been Woods’ agent for 12 years as well as the agent for Annika Sorenstam, once the world’s No 1 woman golfer. He works for the International Management Group (IMG), the company started by the late Mark McCormack to look after sports stars.

Mr Steinberg keeps a low profile and his instinct is to say “no”. When Florida Police were on their way to interview Woods the day after his accident, it was Mr Steinberg who telephoned to tell them: “Tiger won’t be talking.”

The manager gave a rare interview to a US newspaper in 2002 describing Woods as “one of my best friends”. Mr Steinberg explained that he liked remaining in the shadows because “the stories aren’t about Mark Steinberg, they are about Tiger Woods. People want to talk to Mark Steinberg not because of Mark Steinberg but because of Tiger Woods and I think I have a clear perspective on that”.

Mr Williams, 45, a New Zealander, has worked for Woods for a decade and is the only caddie to have won all of golf’s four major championships. He is abrasive to anyone he thinks does not have Woods’ best interests at heart. He once threw a spectator’s camera into a pond after hearing it click on Woods’ backswing. Woods attended Mr Williams’s wedding in 2005.

“He’s so positive out there he keeps me upbeat,” Woods has said of Williams. “I get on him. He gets on with me. We have a good time together. Even if I’m playing good or bad, we’re going to enjoy each other's company.”

Mr Haney, a 54-year-old Texan, succeeded Butch Harmon as Woods’ swing coach. He is well respected, considered to be more discreet than his predecessor and unlikely to allow Woods’ success to go to his head.

Mr Bell, 32, is a Stanford University friend of Woods — the golfer was to have been best man at his wedding this week but withdrew when this scandal blew up.

Other names include Kultida Woods, Woods’ mother, who is a powerful influence on her son and is believed not to get on with Elin Nordegern, Woods’ wife. Mark O’Meara, 52, is one of the golfer’s closest friends. It was on his recommendation that Woods began working with Mr Haney. They live near one another in Windermere, a suburb of Orlando, Florida.

Filed under: Tiger Woods News

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