Earlier this year, Hank Haney was suspended from his SiriusXM radio show for making disparaging comments about Korean LPGA Tour players and women’s golf in general.
Haney’s comments at the time came during a discussion about the upcoming U.S. Women’s Open:
“I’m gonna predict a Korean,” Haney said.
“That’s a pretty safe bet,” Johnson replied
“That’s gonna be my prediction. I couldn’t name you, like, six players on the LPGA Tour,” Haney continued.
“Yeah,” Johnson said.
“Nah, maybe I could,” Haney said. “Well, I’d go with Lee. If I didn’t have to name a first name, I’d get a bunch of them right. I don’t know. … Lexi Thompson. … Michelle Wie’s hurt. I don’t know that many.”
That was bad enough, though during the tournament, Haney doubled down after a Korean woman (Jeongeun Lee6) did indeed win:
My prediction that a Korean woman would be atop the leaderboard at the Women’s US Open was based on statistics and facts. Korean women are absolutely dominating the LPGA Tour. If you asked me again my answer would be the same but worded more carefully.
— Hank Haney (@HankHaney) June 2, 2019
After that, Haney ended up losing the job completely, thanks in part to widespread criticism. Even Tiger Woods got involved, saying Haney “got what he deserved.” (Tiger’s distaste for Haney, of course, likely stems as much or more from Haney’s tell-all book The Big Miss, centered around Haney’s time as Tiger’s swing coach.) Haney, though, clearly feels like he was wronged, and today news broke that he filed suit in Florida against the PGA Tour, alleging the Tour interfered with and damaged his career.
Lawsuit filed today in So. District of Florida by Vijay Singh attorney Peter Ginsberg alleges @PGATour "orchestrated" @HankHaney's firing from @SiriusXMPGATOUR, forced its Superstores to cancel Big Miss orders, influenced canceling of Haney Project, etc. More details to come. pic.twitter.com/Xgu8onk4Sx
— Geoff Shackelford (@GeoffShac) December 18, 2019
ESPN’s Bob Harig had more on the lawsuit as well:
Haney, a longtime golf instructor known best for working with Tiger Woods, said in a U.S. district court lawsuit that the PGA Tour “improperly intimidated, enticed and threatened SiriusXM Radio to suspend and ultimately terminate” Haney’s show, which aired on SiriusXM’s PGA Tour Radio station. The lawsuit also said that the tour “wanted to settle an old score relating to professional golfer Tiger Woods.”
Haney was originally suspended from his show in June for what the PGA Tour and SiriusXM said were insensitive comments about women’s golf in relation to the U.S. Women’s Open.
[…]
Haney’s show didn’t return; he now does a daily podcast.
According to the lawsuit, the PGA Tour had “long attempted to disrupt and interfere in Haney’s business” following the release of “The Big Miss.” The suit also alleges that the firing cost Haney advertising revenue which “would have amounted to millions of dollars over the life of the agreement.”
The PGA Tour said it would have no comment.
Haney’s allegations could be pretty difficult to prove (not least because there’s a strong chance they have no basis in reality), but he’ll apparently at least get his chance.
[ESPN]