Hank Haney took issue with recent criticism from Tiger Woods over Haney’s new book about Tiger in an interview with Crain’s Ed Sherman. Woods had called Haney “unprofessional” for writing a book about his six years coaching Woods. Haney’s book The Big Miss: My Years Coaching Tiger Woods comes out in late March.

Were you surprised about Mr. Woods' reaction?

Not really. It seems pretty consistent to how he's reacted to things in the past. I feel like it is a fair and honest book. I know he said it is “unprofessional.” I don't know how you can make a comment like that without reading the book. I think I had an opportunity to write an unprofessional book, but I don't think I did. I feel like I wrote a fair and honest book.

Should he be worried about what's in the book?

Maybe. (Mr. Haney then took a long pause.) The truth is the truth. There are quite a few things in there that people will find as surprises. I just wrote a fair and honest book. I said all along this wasn't going to be a takedown book. People that know me know that's not what I would do.

What did you think about him saying he won't read the book?

He reads everything. If he says (he) won't, that probably will be the first time. It'll be up to him to decide if he's unhappy. I feel like it is very honest.

He reads everything? We’re already learning new stuff about Tiger from Haney’s book and it’s not even out yet.

Struggling Darren Clarke fires caddie who helped him win Open

They don't call him the “Prince of Darkness” for nothing.

The Scotsman’s Martin Dempster reports that Darren Clarke has fired caddie John Mulrooney, who was on Clarke’s bag during his storybook win at the Open Championship at Royal St. George’s.

According to ISM, Clarke’s management company, the split with Mulrooney is amicable and the player will spend some time weighing up his options for a replacement.

Having decided not to play in either Qatar or Dubai, Clarke’s next competitive outing will be the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona at the end of February.

Mulrooney took over as Clarke’s full-time caddie after the former Ryder Cup player won the Iberdrola Open in Majorca last May.

The pair came close to breaking up after it was claimed they had a furious disagreement on the Sunday at the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart, but they were back on the same wavelength as their partnership worked a treat the following week.

Bill Clinton to play in Nationwide Tour event in Colombia

Fresh off the success of his first PGA Tour hosting gig at the Humana Challenge in Palm Springs, Calif., former President Bill Clinton announced he would take part in the Nationwide Tour’s Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship, which begins Feb. 13.

The PGA TOUR, Pacific Rubiales Energy and the William J. Clinton Foundation announced today that President Clinton will travel to Bogota, Colombia in February and attend the Nationwide Tour's Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship. The tournament will be presented by Samsung and will support the Clinton Foundation's work through the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative (CGSGI) in Colombia.

President Clinton will participate in tournament activities, including the Wednesday, Feb. 15th Pro-Am, featuring Nationwide Tour professionals, government officials, Pacific Rubiales executives, clients and guests. It will be the first time a sitting or former president of the United States has attended a Nationwide Tour event.

We’re thrilled that Clinton wants to be part of golf, but if he’s got all this free time, shouldn’t he be replacing Oprah instead?

Surgeon talks about Tiger’s ACL surgery after 2008 U.S. Open

Lee Benson of The Deseret News profiles Park City, Utah, orthopedic surgeon Vern Cooley, the doctor who repaired Tiger Woods’s left knee after the 2008 U.S. Open. Cooley said the surgery, which he performed with his partner Dr. Tom Rosenberg, was a success.

"We've become good friends," says Cooley of Woods, and while Cooley hasn't been consulted about trying to repair Tiger's more recent non-knee troubles, he is of the opinion that his golf career, given Tiger's work ethic and determination, will eventually rebound.

And he's absolutely confident of one thing. That left knee of his was repaired right, and in the right place.  

Tweet of the Day

Cartoon Stanley
After Kyle Stanley's shocking collapse at the Farmers Insurance Open on Sunday, Steve Elkington shared this comic about Stanley.

After 18 on Sunday @kylestanleygolf tried to make a claim @ Farmers... twitter.com/elkpga/status/…

— Steve Elkington (@elkpga) January 30, 2012

Pros Talk Tennis
Despite being busy playing in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald had time not only to tweet but catch some of the action at the Australian Open.

They are going to have to come up with a 6 hour energy drink, 5 just ain't going to cut it. #Rafa/Djokovic

— Luke Donald (@LukeDonald) January 29, 2012

Apparently I missed an unbelievable tennis match today! Was busy making birdies, bogeys and others!! Need to limit mistakes at the weekend!

— Rory Mcilroy (@McIlroyRory) January 27, 2012

Lost in the desert
Donald also had some free time to do a photo shoot in the middle of nowhere. Literally.

Headed out to the middle of the desert yesterday for a photo shoot. Amazing views! twitpic.com/8bhbag

— Luke Donald (@LukeDonald) January 25, 2012

Took John ages to find those balls....

— Luke Donald (@LukeDonald) January 25, 2012

Rockin' the hat?
Robert Rock has yet to wear a hat while he plays, but that may change.

Report: Titleist offers Robert Rock 1 million a year for three years to put Titleist logo on his forehead.

— John Peterson (@JohnPetersonLSU) January 30, 2012

Donald was thinking the same thing we were.

No hat deal for Rock yet? Maybe he has a hair deal in place instead. #tresemme? #Head&Shoulders?

— Luke Donald (@LukeDonald) January 29, 2012

Tiger Woods may have lost his head-to-head battle with Robert Rock in the final group at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, but his tie for third place was enough to lift him back into the top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking. This week Woods is ranked 17th.

Woods began 2012 ranked 23rd, thanks largely to his victory at the Chevron World Challenge in December. He slipped to 25th the week before teeing it up in Abu Dhabi, his first event of the year.

Despite not winning in Abu Dhabi, Woods said he is pleased with the way his golf game is progressing. His next scheduled tournament is the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in two weeks.

"I've got a week off to get ready for Pebble, and then we have a couple of big events, a couple of World Golf Championships," he said. "So there's plenty of big events to go, but I'm pleased at the progress I've made so far. Basically since Australia, my stroke-play events have been pretty good. So I just need to keep building, keep getting more consistent."

Woods entered the 2011 season as the top-ranked player in the world, but during his erratic, injury-plagued season he briefly toppled out of the top 50 before winning the Chevron in December.

Thanks to his victory in Abu Dhabi, Robert Rock vaulted up the rankings from 117th to 55th.

Luke Donald tied for 48th in Abu Dhabi but maintained his No. 1 ranking. Rory McIlroy finished second in Abu Dhabi and passed Lee Westwood for No. 2, the highest McIlroy has been ranked in his career.

(Photo: Paul Childs/Zuma Press)

Mickelson puts Southern California home on the market for $7 million

With his missed cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in the past, Mickelson is now focusing on the future. According to Market Watch, he and his wife, Amy, have recently put their luxurious Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., estate [right] on the market for $7.095 million.

"Simply put, this is one of the finest and most private estates you'll find -- anywhere," said Susan Bartow, listing agent for the Mickelsons. "The materials used and craftsman who built this incredible estate are second to none."

The 9,500 square foot, five-bedroom, Tuscan-style home sits on 4.88 acres and comes with two guest villas. The estate includes lavish landscaping, a swimming pool, and its very own putting green. 

Graeme McDowell's luck of the Irish

In Sunday's final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Graeme McDowell hit two memorable shots. His first was a beautiful hole-in-one on the 12th hole par 3. But his next shot on 18 wasn't as glamorous. Jonathan Wall at Yahoo! Sports has the story:

After knocking his second into a bunker short of the 18th green, McDowell caught his approach shot thin and half expected it to end up in the grandstands behind the green. But instead of ending up with an incredibly difficult fourth shot, McDowell's ball ricocheted off the grandstand and rolled back to within a couple feet of the cup.

McDowell made the birdie and finished the tournament with a tie for third. 

Finally, a great lie for the Donald

According to The [Newark] Star-Ledger, Donald Trump plans to seek New Jersey state approval in order to build a burial ground next to Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster. 

The 1.5-acre site would become the exclusive final resting place for wealthy club members who pay as much as $300,000 in membership fees. And a section of the lush plot would be carved out for Trump and his next of kin, said Ed Russo, a Trump consultant.

"It’s a very personal decision, but he’s considering it," Russo said. "This is really about members, but we do plan to set something aside for Mr. Trump and his family."

Tweet of the Day

[Photo of Mickelson house from Prudential Realty]

Robert Garrigus was nowhere near the scene of the accident when presumed Farmers Insurance Open champion Kyle Stanley [right] triple-bogeyed the 18th hole at Torrey Pines South on Sunday to fall into a playoff with Brandt Snedeker. (Not surprisingly, Snedeker won on the second extra hole.)

Garrigus, who triple-bogeyed the last hole to fall into a playoff he would eventually lose at Memphis in 2010, had struggled on Torrey's poa annua greens and bogeyed his last two holes to miss the cut at the Farmers, so he was back home in Scottsdale, Ariz., watching the back nine at Torrey on TV. 

"I left to go get a massage at 3:30 or 4 o'clock," he said by phone Sunday night. "I saw Kyle make a five-footer on 15 for par. I thought it was a lock; Brandt made bogey on 17. It was a four-shot lead with three holes to play."

Alas, just as Garrigus had buckled under the pressure of trying to win his first tournament in 2010, the enormity of what the winless Stanley was about to accomplish seemed to hit him all at once. He spun a wedge off the green and into the water, hit his fifth shot on the green and three-putted. 

"I saw what happened and thought, 'I'm one of the only guys in the United States who can relate to how he feels,' because I've been there and it's brutal," Garrigus said. "He'll win. It's not the end of the world, but it sure feels like it at the time."

Garrigus won at Disney at the end of 2010 and dedicated the victory to Tony Kornheiser, the co-host of ESPN's Pardon the Interruption, who had suggested fans might never hear from Garrigus again.

"He didn't know what he was saying," Garrigus said. "I got some good pub out of it. It was a lot of fun."

Similarly, he believes the first win for the shell-shocked Stanley might not be far off.

"I wish I had his number because I would call him," said Garrigus, who tied for third at the U.S. Open last summer and will make his first Masters start in April. "I'm sure I'll see him soon. I'll tell him, 'You've got to get there to blow it.' That's what Chris DiMarco said to me: 'You've got to get there to blow it, and you'll be there again. Don't worry about it. It's just golf.'"

(Photo: Kohjiro Kinno/SI)

Join us on Monday, Jan. 30 at noon EST to respond to each of the questions posed in this week's edition of the PGA Tour Confidential.

Robert Rock held off Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and the rest of the field to win the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on Sunday.

It was the second career victory for Rock, a 34-year-old Englishman in his 10th year on the European Tour who also won last year's Italian Open. Rock, who started the day tied for the lead with Woods at 11 under, hit his drive on the par-5 18th into a hazard but salvaged bogey to shoot 70 and finish 13 under, one shot ahead of Rory McIlroy.

Woods had three birdies and two bogeys on the front nine and started the back nine with a bogey on the par-5 10th. From there, Woods made nothing but pars, shooting even-par 72 to tie for third with  Graeme McDowell and Thomas Bjorn at 11 under.

All week, Woods had been in control of his long game, but he hit just one fairway on the back nine on Sunday and only six greens in regulation for the day.

Woods won his own event, the limited-field Chevron World Challenge, in December, but he hasn't had a full-field victory since November of 2009, when he won the Australian Masters.

After the tournament, Woods said some of his distances were off in the final round, but overall he sounded optimistic about his game.

"I’m pleased with the progress I’ve made so far," he said. "Since Australia, my stroke play events I’ve been doing pretty good. I just need to keep building, keep getting more consistent. Today was a day I putted beautifully, I just didn’t give myself enough looks."

Rock sounded a bit overwhelmed by his accomplishment.

"I was just very happy to be playing Tiger Woods today, and that’s a special honor in itself," Rock said. "It’s been a steady progression from when I finished work in the golf shops, and I worked hard at my game, but I didn’t think this would happen."

Stay tuned to Golf.com for more from Abu Dhabi. Leaderboard | Round 4 Photos | Round 3 Photos 

Photo: Paul Childs/Zuma Press

Tiger Woods fired a six-under 66 in the third round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship to get to 11 under for the tournament. He's tied for the lead with England's Robert Rock.

Woods hit 10 of 14 fairways and 16 greens in regulation and had 30 putts. He shot 32 on the back nine with four birdies, including one on the par-5 18th.

Rory McIlroy shot a four-under 68 and is tied for third with Peter Hanson, Francesco Molinari and Paul Lawrie. 

Woods won his own event, the limited-field Chevron World Challenge, in December, but he hasn't had a full-field victory since November of 2009, when he won the Australian Masters.

Stay tuned to Golf.com for more from Abu Dhabi. Leaderboard | Round 3 Photos | Round 2 Photos

(Photo: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

How can a tournament with a purse of "only" $2.7 million ($445,000 to the winner), played in a place that's a 14-hour hour flight from the East Coast, match a rich ($6 million purse, $1.044 million for first) domestic event held at a former U.S. Open venue? Can you say "appearance fees”?

Such payouts are forbidden on the PGA Tour -- the only perk players will get at Torrey is the use of a rental car -- but the Euro tour has fewer restrictions, and Abu Dhabi is the major championship of pay-for-play. The extras are so lavish that they more than make up the $3.3 million purse differential. For starters, everyone in the field gets free travel and accommodations at the luxurious Emirates Palace. After that, the size of the envelope varies based on star power.

Players universally refuse to discuss specifics, so we’re left with no choice but to speculate. Here's a guesstimate, based on many conversations with fellow golf journalists, as to what some of the headliners might be receiving.

Tiger Woods, $2.5 million: Woods's has played in Dubai, where his Al Ruwaya golf course project has returned to the desert, but this is his first start in Abu Dhabi.

Rory McIlroy, $1 million: The U.S. Open champ is the second-biggest draw in golf and a regular at Abu Dhabi, playing there five straight years.

Lee Westwood, $750,000: You don't hear much about it, but keeping easy-money events like Abu Dhabi on their schedules is one reason Euros like Westwood come and go from the PGA Tour.

Luke Donald, $600,000: This was the world No. 1's first trip to Abu Dhabi. If he wins a major, his price could double.

Darren Clarke, $400,000: Being the British Open champ is a big deal in an event like this. Plus, who doesn't love Clarkie?

Graeme McDowell, $200,000: Another regular in the UAE and a popular U.S. Open winner.

Martin Kaymer, $200,000: Kaymer is the King of Abu Dhabi, where he has won three times and is the defending champ.

Charl Schwartzel, $200,000: All the 2011 major winners were pursued, and only Keegan Bradley (PGA Championship) said no.

K.J. Choi, $100,000: At Abu Dhabi, they regard the Players Championship as if it really is the fifth major.

Colin Montgomerie, $0: No cash, but since he has played in all seven Abu Dhabi Championships, he'll get the royal treatment.