Tiger says there's no problem between him, Haney

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- There's a big chasm between fuming and firing.

Quashing rumors that a coaching change might be in the offing after he failed to win the Masters for the fourth consecutive year, Tiger Woods said an uncharacteristically public outburst at Augusta National occurred because he was upset at himself, not swing guru Hank Haney.

In the aftermath of the Masters, where an occasionally testy Woods finished in a tie for sixth and barked at Haney on the practice tee, two different media outlets suggested that the coach might be in hot water with his top client.

Woods all but laughed at the notion Wednesday after his pro-am round at the Quail Hollow Championship.

"That's complete speculation," Woods said. After finishing with a sloppy 72 in his second round at Augusta National, Woods spent several terse moments yelling at Haney on the practice tee, which fueled rumors that a rift existed and that Woods had grown frustrated with his results. Only the latter was true.

It was mostly just bad timing on Haney's part. He happened to be the guy standing nearest when Woods stalked off the course.

"It has nothing to do with Henry," Woods said evenly. "I didn't hit the ball the way I wanted and I didn't make any putts. I felt like that every day. It was 17 and 18 that hurt. I didn't finish off my rounds the last couple days and it cost me a chance to win the golf tournament."

Haney happened to be within earshot while Woods was at the peak of his frustrations. Other players were torching the course in the second round, including Masters rookie Anthony Kim, who had a tournament-record 11 birdies and shot 65.

"I mean, usually, you just leave me alone, let me vent for a while and then I'll be ready to focus on what I need to do to get ready for the next day," he said. "It's happened before, he's seen it before, Stevie [Williams] has seen it.

"You've got to vent. We don't get a chance to do that because we come off the green, we do media right away. You're constantly on, and I just need to vent for just a little bit. Give me five minutes, 10 minutes, and once that's over, it's what do we need to do to get ready to win this golf tournament the next day."

Woods is making his first post-Masters start at Quail Hollow on Thursday. He won the tournament in 2007 and didn't play last year while recovering from knee surgery.

Haney, who only travels to the major championships and a handful of select tournaments with Woods, isn't in Charlotte this week.