Tiger Woods hits back at claims that he wanted to become Navy SEAL

London, Mar 1 (ANI): Tiger Woods has denied his former coach's claim that her considered quitting golf to become a Navy SEAL.

Hank Haney's new book on the former world number 1 has infuriated Woods, with his manager Mark Steinberg calling it "disrespectful" and "ridiculous".

"When he talked about it, it was clear he had a plan. I thought, wow, here is Tiger Woods, greatest athlete on the planet, maybe the greatest athlete of all time, basically ready to leave it all behind for a military life," the Daily Mail quoted Haney as writing in the book.

But Woods' manager has rubbished these claims by issuing a statement.

"Haney's armchair psychology about Tiger, on matters he admits they didn't even discuss, is ridiculous. Because of his father, it's no secret that Tiger has always had high respect for the military, so for Haney to twist that into something negative is disrespectful," Steinberg said in the statement.

However, Steinberg's outrage is undermined by his client's past comments.

"I've always wanted to be a SEAL," Woods said back then.

"That's something I told my dad from the get-go. Either I'm going to become a professional golfer or I'm going to become a Navy SEAL. A lot of my friends are special ops operators," he said.

Haney's book, 'The Big Miss', is released on March 27, eight days before the start of the Masters, which Steinberg sees as an opportunity the former coach is trying to bank on.

"The disruptive timing of this book shows that Haney's self-promotion is more important to him than any other person or tournament.

"What's been written violates the trust between a coach and player and someone also once considered a friend," Steinberg said. (ANI)