GOLF SUPERSTAR TIGER Woods said former swing coach Hank Haney “got what he deserved” when he was suspended from the SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio channel for disparaging comments on the US Women’s Open field.
Woods, asked about the controversy after the second round of the US PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament in Ohio on Friday, had no sympathy for Haney, whose remarks were branded “racist and sexist” by US golf star Michelle Wie.
“He deserved it,” Woods said. “Just can’t look at life like that. And he obviously said what he meant, and he got what he deserved.”
Haney sparked an uproar when asked on his SiriusXM radio show this week to predict a likely winner of the US Women’s Open, which is underway in Charleston, South Carolina.
“I’m gonna predict a Korean,” he said, adding: “I couldn’t name you like six players on the LPGA tour.
“Nah, maybe I could — well, I’d go with Lee, if I didn’t have to name a first name, I’d get a bunch of them right.”
Wie immediately called out Haney on Twitter, and plenty of other big names in the women’s game followed, including Hall of Famers Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb.
On Thursday, the PGA Tour and SiriusXM issued a statement saying Haney had been suspended from the tour radio channel “at the PGA Tour’s instruction” while SiriusXM was further “reviewing his status”.
Haney said in the statement that he accepts his suspension and apologised again.
Haney coached Woods through six of his 15 major championships, from 2004 to 2010.
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