The Zone Interactive Golf Magazine (UK) The Zone Issue 25 | Page 32

ZONE FEATURE

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HEN Nick Faldo took the momentous decision to rebuild his golf swingand emerged as a golfer capable of winning major championships, everybody wanted to know who had put him on the road to glory. And thus, David Leadbetter became an overnight sensation, the best golf coach on the planet and the man everybody wanted on their side. Nick Price swore by Leadbetter as he became world No 1. Soon it seemed that pretty much every top player was seeing Leadbetter. And then, just as suddenly as he had burst upon the scene, Leadbetter seemed to fall out of favour. he was too technical. He did everything by numbers. All his players were too methodical. Even Faldo fired him. Then came Tiger Woods and his blistering, record-breaking victory at The Masters back in 1997. When he went on to prove that it was no flash in the pan, the question everybody wanted an answer to was: who is his coach? And thus, Butch Harman became "the man". Astonishingly, Woods took the decision to rebuild the swing that had won him every major in the game. There was a hint that Harman had become too big for his boots, that Woods had grown weary of hearing Butch repeatedly tell the world that he had built Tiger's swing. Perhaps it was a mistake to claim so much of the credit when, quite clearly,

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Butch Harmon

THEZONE / ISSUE 25