Hank Haney

Hank Haney has resigned as Tiger Woods' swing coach, the Golf Channel reported last night. He has been Woods' coach for more than 6 years, starting in March 2004. "I have informed Tiger Woods this evening that I will no longer be his coach," Haney said in a statement to the network. "Tiger Woods has done the work to achieve a level of greatness that I believe the game of golf has never seen before and I will always appreciate the opportunity that I have had to contribute to his successes . . . However, I believe at this time that it is in both of our best interests for me to step aside as Tiger's coach.

FORMER TEMPLE running back Paul Palmer and former Penn State running back D.J. Dozier and guard Steve Wisniewski are among 76 candidates on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame. Temple's Wayne Hardin is among eight coaching candidates. The Football Bowl Subdivision ballot was mailed this week to more than 12,000 National Football Foundation members and current Hall of Famers. The 2012 class will be announced May 15 and inducted Dec. 4. In other college news: * Penn State dismissed freshman defensive end Shawn Oakman due to a violation of team rules.

Tiger Woods intends to remain out of golf at least until the Masters, two people with knowledge of his plans have told the Associated Press. Woods has been practicing at Isleworth near his Orlando, Fla., home the last 2 weeks, and swing coach Hank Haney flew there during the weekend to work with him. That led to speculation yesterday he was close to playing again. The two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, say he is likely to play first at Augusta National next month.

If you watch Tiger Woods in the U.S. Open today, take a good look at what he does before every shot. Time and again, Woods will stand behind the ball and look down the target line. What he is doing is visualizing the shot he wants to hit. Then, he will take a couple of practice swings, trying to create the swing for the shot he sees in his head, whether it's a towering hook, a low fade, a pitch, or a running chip. Next, Woods picks what his swing coach, Hank Haney, calls an "intermediate target," no more than a couple of feet out in front of the ball.

Nick Watney offered a slight wave to the applauding crowd as he walked away from his par putt on the 17th hole, then took a deep breath, his cheeks puffing as he exhaled. There was only one hole to go for his first career PGA Tour triumph, not to mention a check for nearly $1.1 million. He was nervous, he admitted later, but not that nervous. "I loved being in this position," Watney said. "That's one of the funnest things about it is to be in position and pull it off and conquer your nerves.

Last week's subway and bus bombings in London very nearly meant tragedy for Tiger Woods. His mother, Kultida, was on a European vacation with family and friends, and, Woods said yesterday, was in a hotel in London when one of the bombs went off across the street. "It very easily could have been pretty tragic for me personally," Woods said. "I can only imagine what everyone else who was involved, where they lost a loved one or had loved ones hurt, what they might have been through.

LSU CORNERBACK Tyrann Mathieu is taking trash-talking to another level. The Heisman Trophy finalist has looked up the names of the mothers of Alabama football players so he can provoke the Crimson Tide during tonight's BCS Championship Game in New Orleans. That, according to the Crimson White, the University of Alabama's student newspaper. "You try to get the edge any way you got to," Mathieu told the newspaper. "When you are on the field you're just having fun, you're just talking.

A SCHEDULED shoot yesterday for "Limitless," formerly "The Dark Fields," was postponed due to illness of an actor, according to sources involved with the film. A film spokeswoman did not disclose who was ill, but we hear that Bradley Cooper may have injured his knee during a prolonged fight scene filmed Friday in the Broad Street subway near Locust Street. Earlier that morning the Rydal-raised actor and Australian actress Abbie Cornish shot a scene at Sampan (124 S. 13th)

Tiger Woods' longtime swing coach has resigned, leaving the world's No. 1 player without one of his top advisers as he tries to rebuild his game. Hank Haney said Monday night that he enjoyed working with Woods but he thinks it's time for him to step aside as his coach. "I will always look back upon our past half-dozen years together as my best days in professional golf," he told the Golf Channel, adding that he wanted to "make it clear this is my decision. " There had been speculation at the Players Championship that Woods was about to leave Haney, his swing coach since 2004.

Speculation erupted from numerous sources yesterday, all suggesting that Tiger Woods will return to competitive golf soon. But each report had a different tournament and date for the 14-time major championship winner to emerge from his self-imposed break from competitive golf: One said Bay Hill in Orlando; another said the Tavistock Cup in Lake Nona, Fla.; and a third said Woods will not play until the Masters in April. The New York Post - citing two unnamed sources - reported that Woods will play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill near Woods' home in two weeks.

'THE BIG MISS," indeed. It did not have to be. Hank Haney's book about Tiger Woods did not have to further diminish the most significant athlete alive. It did not have to paint Woods as detestable. It did not need to depict Haney as a spurned sycophant, now turned disloyal and petty. That is what it does. On the eve of the Masters, where Tiger once reigned and where, revived, he could again, Haney and his publishers decided to release 247 pages of revenge.

FORMER TEMPLE running back Paul Palmer and former Penn State running back D.J. Dozier and guard Steve Wisniewski are among 76 candidates on the ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame. Temple's Wayne Hardin is among eight coaching candidates. The Football Bowl Subdivision ballot was mailed this week to more than 12,000 National Football Foundation members and current Hall of Famers. The 2012 class will be announced May 15 and inducted Dec. 4. In other college news: * Penn State dismissed freshman defensive end Shawn Oakman due to a violation of team rules.

LSU CORNERBACK Tyrann Mathieu is taking trash-talking to another level. The Heisman Trophy finalist has looked up the names of the mothers of Alabama football players so he can provoke the Crimson Tide during tonight's BCS Championship Game in New Orleans. That, according to the Crimson White, the University of Alabama's student newspaper. "You try to get the edge any way you got to," Mathieu told the newspaper. "When you are on the field you're just having fun, you're just talking.

A SCHEDULED shoot yesterday for "Limitless," formerly "The Dark Fields," was postponed due to illness of an actor, according to sources involved with the film. A film spokeswoman did not disclose who was ill, but we hear that Bradley Cooper may have injured his knee during a prolonged fight scene filmed Friday in the Broad Street subway near Locust Street. Earlier that morning the Rydal-raised actor and Australian actress Abbie Cornish shot a scene at Sampan (124 S. 13th)

By his own reckoning, Jason Day hit the ball "very awful" during Friday's second round of the AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club. The 22-year-old Australian made a birdie putt on the final hole and goes into the weekend tied for second place at 6-under par. By his own reckoning, Tiger Woods "drove the ball great" during his two rounds so far. He survived the cut with a score of 3-over. Day decided to try golf after getting a book about Woods as a kid in Queensland. Just a decade later, he's thumping his idol at the tour event Woods created.

By his own reckoning, Jason Day hit the ball ?very awful? during Friday?s second round of the AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club. The 22-year-old Australian made a birdie putt on the final hole and goes into the weekend tied for second place at 6-under par. By his own reckoning, Tiger Woods ?drove the ball great? during his two rounds so far. He survived the cut with a score of 3-over. Day decided to try golf after getting a book about Woods as a kid in Queensland. Just a decade later, he's thumping his idol at the tour event Woods created.

The U.S. Open exhibited the bizarre year of Tiger Woods in a microcosm. In the third round, he sent his fans scrambling to find a television set at the dinner hour, showing glimpses of the old Tiger as he blazed his way to a 66 over the menacing Pebble Beach Golf Links and put himself in contention for a record-tying fourth U.S. Open title. The next day, Woods delighted his detractors in the audience as he lacked what used to be his trademark closing punch, struggled to a 75, and finished 3 strokes behind Open champion Graeme McDowell.

Tiger Woods' longtime swing coach has resigned, leaving the world's No. 1 player without one of his top advisers as he tries to rebuild his game. Hank Haney said Monday night that he enjoyed working with Woods but he thinks it's time for him to step aside as his coach. "I will always look back upon our past half-dozen years together as my best days in professional golf," he told the Golf Channel, adding that he wanted to "make it clear this is my decision. " There had been speculation at the Players Championship that Woods was about to leave Haney, his swing coach since 2004.

Hank Haney has resigned as Tiger Woods' swing coach, the Golf Channel reported last night. He has been Woods' coach for more than 6 years, starting in March 2004. "I have informed Tiger Woods this evening that I will no longer be his coach," Haney said in a statement to the network. "Tiger Woods has done the work to achieve a level of greatness that I believe the game of golf has never seen before and I will always appreciate the opportunity that I have had to contribute to his successes . . . However, I believe at this time that it is in both of our best interests for me to step aside as Tiger's coach.

Tiger Woods said today there is "absolutely zero connection" between the sore neck he suffered in a car crash in his driveway in November and the neck injury that forced him to withdraw from the Players Championship on Sunday. "My neck started bothering me when I started practicing a lot and started to ramp up," Woods said today during a press conference to promote the AT&T National at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square. Asked at the Masters what injuries he suffered during the Nov. 27 crash, Woods said, "I had a busted-up lip and a pretty sore neck, and that was it. " Woods said his current neck injury started "bugging" him 2 weeks before the Masters.