Tiger Woods' former golf coach splits with LPGA Tour star

Tiger Woods' former golf instructor Seam Foley has parted ways with LPGA Tour star Lydia Ko. 

Andy Roberts's picture
Mon, 31 Oct 2022
Tiger Woods' former golf coach splits with LPGA Tour star

Tiger Woods' former golf coach Sean Foley has parted ways with former Ladies World No.1 Lydia Ko over "logistical reasons". 

Ko, 25, teamed up with Foley in the summer of 2020 as she went in search of her game having gone more than two years without a victory. 

She would eventually go on to record her first win on the LPGA Tour in three years at the 2021 Lotte Championship, and she has since won twice more this season. 

But Ko took to Instagram over the weekend to reveal the news that she was parting ways with Foley. 

"When I first met Sean, I was in a place where I didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself and in my game. Over the past two years he has helped me evolve as a better player and person. Our time together was full of so much learning, laughter."

Ko landed her 18th career LPGA Tour title in South Korea just last weekend, adding to her victory at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio in January. 

The New Zealander currently leads the LPGA Tour in scoring average and also leads the Rolex Player of the Year race with 11 top-five finishes from 20 starts. 

Ko is currently ranked third in the world. 

"I’ve been looking at lots of my videos or swing videos," Ko told the media at the time of working with Foley in 2020. 

"Kind of weird to Google or YouTube yourself, but I’ve been doing that to just see my swing as an amateur.

"He’s, I think, gotten me not to think too much about the lines of everything. I’ve tried to change my mindset of not trying to take a video of my swing every single time I’m on the driving range."

Foley has worked with a number of the world's best PGA Tour players, none bigger than Woods from 2010 to 2014. 

Woods called time on their partnership in the summer of 2014, citing he had no immediate plans to work with another golf coach. 

"I'd like to thank Sean for his help as my coach and for his friendship," Woods said at the time. 

Foley has since admitted to being "too arrogant" and "overcoaching" Woods during his four-year stint with the 15-time major champion. 

After leaving Foley, Woods then teamed up with Chris Como later that year through to 2017.

But Woods, who continues to recover from leg injuries sustained during his horror car crash in 2021, has gone alone in the coaching world ever since Como. 

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