By now you will know that Tiger and Sean, well more Tiger have decided to move on with their respective lives, without each other on a daily basis..
Here were the two respective releases..
Tiger : Sean is one of the outstanding coaches in golf today, and I know he will continue to be successful with the players working with him. “With my next tournament not until my World Challenge event at Isleworth in Orlando, this is the right time to end our professional relationship.”
Sean : My time spent with Tiger is one of the highlights of my career so far, and I am appreciative of the many experiences we shared together.“It was a lifelong ambition of mine to teach the best player of all time in our sport. I am both grateful for the things we had the opportunity to learn from one another, as well as the enduring friendship we have built. I have nothing but respect and admiration for him
Sean became Tiger's coach after the PGA Championship in 2010. At that time Sean was also our weekly golf analyst on Fairways, having replaced the late great Ben Kern, the man after Jack McLaughlin at Shaughnessy that Sean learned his craft from at the National. I would call Sean every Friday and suggest a golf tip for our audience and we'd do the spot live every Saturday at 725am. At the time Sean was running the Clublink golf academy first at the Abbey then at Piper's Glen before moving with his beloved wife Katie and 1st son Quinn, to Orlando Florida in 2006, home today of his Core Golf Academy.
The spot was originally for 5 minutes, Ben was very concise, often writing down what he wanted to impart... Sean was the opposite. What started as a tip on the correct grip, would soon morph into a discussion on life, or science or whatever came up in our discussion especially when the rumours of Tiger's interest had emerged..
One thing was always clear with Sean. While he always wanted to be a great golf instructor, it was much more important for him to make a much bigger contribution to his time on this planet... as a husband to Kate first as a father to Quinn and now Kieran second, to those around the world in need and then to his stable of golfers
"For me my ethics and my values and how I perceive myself are important so the bottom line is I'm not going to put my life out of balance to chase money. Family comes first. My tour players are next. Once those two things are covered I'm open to other things from a business perspective but on a limited basis." he told my pal Rick Young at Scoregolf. Ultimately we'd like to get to a point where 50 per cent of every corporate dollar after taxes goes to a foundation or Blessings in a Backpack or to Africa to build water wells, I'm grateful to have people want to pay me for things and to do things. But for me I'd like to be Robin Hood in a sense where you're able to take care of people who will never have the fortune you have. A lot of this is luck. That's what creates the humility"
Sean always had a sense of balance and what was right or wrong in his set of values. We'd ask every week if he and Tiger were official, and he'd talk around it, never wanting to say anything that should and eventually did come from Tiger first.
He did say he wanted of course to be asked to coach by the world's greatest golfer, while at the same time saying that he and Kate had discussed the huge change that would mean in their lives, and he seemed confident they were prepared for the maelstrom of attention, prepared for the demands on his time, prepared for the effects it would have on them and Quinn and prepared for the criticism that would eventually come his way.
So today I am sure Sean and Kate are prepared to move on with the family, with Sean's career and with his pursuit of making a difference to this world..
Losing Tiger as a client won't faze Sean, he has far loftier goals, starting right at home..
PS..The day when I was unexpectedly let go from the Fan590 and my beloved Fairways radio show, along with several of my senior colleagues under the new management regime, one of the first guys I spoke with was Sean. After consoling me with his support, he vowed he would never work on Fairways again until I was hosting and producing it, and not surprisingly he stayed true to his word..
Here is what Justin Rose and Hunter Mahan had to say about Sean.
Justin Rose : Sean does not look at me as a golfer. He looks at me as an athlete and from a biomechanical point of view. He is not necessarily wrapped up in what makes a swing pretty. He wants what works for me from a scientific point of view. This is not necessarily the position that everyone strives for, but that is what I like about Sean
Hunter Mahan First I am happy to have Sean as my coach, more importantly I am happy to have him in my life..
Bryan Angus
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