Planet Golf — 22 November 2014 by GW staff and news services
Tiger hires another swing coach

It didn’t take long for Tiger Woods to find his next coach.

After parting ways with Sean Foley at the end of August, Woods announced on Saturday that he has hired Chris Como to be his swing instructor.

“Happy to have Chris Como consulting and working with me on my swing,” Woods tweeted. “I’m excited to be back competing.”

Woods will return Dec. 4-7 at his Hero World Challenge, an 18-man field of top 50 players at Isleworth.

Not long after the announcement, Como’s website was unavailable because it exceeded its bandwidth. He works at Gleneagles Country Club outside Dallas.

The 36-year-old Como was named by Golf Digest as one its “best young teachers.” Como has also worked with Trevor Immelman, Jamie Lovemark and Aaron Baddeley and is also pursuing a master’s degree in biomechanics.

Woods was introduced to Como this summer by four-time PGA Tour winner Notah Begay, his longtime friend and former teammate at Stanford.

“It’s dramatically going to change (Como’s) life,” Begay told the Golf Channel on Saturday. “I think Chris primarily doesn’t necessarily subscribe to a specific method. He uses the player’s best attributes and develops motions around what a player does well.”

Como also works with noted instructor Grant Waite. Waite, coincidentally, was one of the top finishers this week at the Champions Tour q-school.

“Subsequently, we had several good conservations about the golf swing,” Woods said in a statement. “I’ve worked with him about a month since I started practicing. Chris will consult and work with me during the year.”

Woods, who parted ways with Foley after four years together and no majors, hasn’t played since missing the cut at the PGA Championship and failing to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs. His next event will be the Hero World Challenge at Isleworth Country Club the first week of December.

Como is the fourth coach of Woods’ career.

Woods began working with Butch Harmon as a teenager and went on to win eight majors while with Harmon. Among them were the 1997 Masters, which Woods won by 12 shots, and a sweep of all four major titles in 2000-01. Harmon and Woods parted ways in 2003.

Up next was Hank Haney — and an entirely new swing. Woods enjoyed nearly the same level of success. In their six years together Woods won six major championships. During that time he had a two-year span in which he won 18 times in 34 starts. Among the victories was the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, which Woods won despite a torn ACL and double stress fracture in his left leg. It was also the last time Woods won a major. Haney resigned as Woods’ coach in May 2010.

Later that year, Woods hired Foley. Their four years together were marked by injury, however. Woods made just nine starts on the PGA TOUR in 2011 and only seven this past season, during which Woods failed to record a single top 10. Woods’ best season under Foley was in 2013 when he won five times and was named PGA TOUR Player of the Year.

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