How Tiger Woods did the last time he coached himself

One sentence in Tiger Woods’ latest blog post, published Thursday, caught enough attention to merit worldwide headlines.

“I may just do it on my own,” wrote Woods concerning who might be his next swing coach. It wouldn’t be the first time in Woods’ career where the 14-time major winner has been teacher and student.

When Woods and Hank Haney parted company in May 2010, Woods had just withdrawn in the final round of The Players citing an inflamed neck joint. Woods next appeared at the Memorial Tournament the next month, and the questions about Woods’ future were obvious. Asked if he was “self-diagnosing,” Woods confirmed he was figuring things out on his own.

“That’s the great thing about technology. We can use video,” Woods said. “That’s what I’ve been doing and been working on it that way.”

And so began a two-and-a-half month experiement. Woods didn’t win in this stretch (he didn’t win in 2010 or ’11), but did finish T-4 at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and T-23 at the Open Championship at St. Andrews where Louis Oosthuizen blitzed the field for his only major title. However, Woods was left searching after he finished T-78, dead last, in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, a tournament he has won eight times.

The next week at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, Woods was seen working with Sean Foley.

However, Woods is done until his World Challenge event in December. He hasn’t touched a golf club since the PGA Championship in August. For now, the focus is on getting healthy and getting right a back problem that has marred his season. It may not be until 2015 that Woods decides, if at all, to rebuild his swing yet again. If he does overhaul once more, it may not be before 2016 that Woods shows flashes of his once-dominant self.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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