He has worked with Tiger Woods for 27 years. Can you name it?

If you’re well versed in The Book of the Tiger, some figures from his (almost) 50 years on this earth are so familiar to you, no last name or ID required. time and Earl, of course. Stevie and Steiny; ButchHank. (For those late to the party: caddy, agent, swing coach, swing coach.) His children, Sam and Charlie. I was on stage for Tiger’s second US amateur title and 14 of his 15 Grand Slam victories. If “Danger!” i used to have a category called tiger times, i like my chances. So you can imagine my shock when I sat in a carriage at Ryder Cup last month and I interviewed a man for two hours who has worked with (on and off) Tiger Woods for 27 years and I had never heard of it in my life!

The man’s name was (and is) Dr. Tom LaFountain. He is a chiropractor and the PGA Tour’s director of chiropractic services. Our match mate was Johnny Wood, the young broadcaster who served as Manager of the American team for the Ryder Cup in Bethpage, where LaFountain, who is 69 and white-haired, was in charge of all manual sports medicine for the American team. “He probably worked for every major player of the last 30 years,” Johnny told me. By which he meant Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus as top players; Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Davis Love in their long starts; Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley and many other Ryder Cup players over the years.

Tiger Woods made it onto the PGA Tour in 1996 by way of sponsor exemptions and his superior outside-the-box play. Tom LaFountain, soft-spoken and tough (on the New York front), entered the tournament the following year, through his work with all kinds of athletes, especially legendary Olympic figure skaters Bonnie Blair and Dan Jansen. Manual sports medicine It wasn’t a catchphrase then, and it’s not quite the cafe now. But it is very true. When LaFountain and dozens of trainers and chiropractors under him (many of whom come to tour events on a freelance basis) know their patients through their hands. Never, without gloves.

Their examinations go from the toes to the neck, through the hand. LaFountain may encounter tightness in the left ankle and ask, “Are you feeling anything in the first leg of the backswing?” How did you know? Chances are good that whatever the issue, there’s an app for it. LaFountain and his men will do their thing and leave the player with homework too. The player wants the job because he wants to score lower and be pain free doing it.

More than once, a tour pro has told LaFountain, “You have good hands.” It is a favorite compliment. He finds trouble with his hands and finds trouble with his hands. Shaking hands with him is like shaking hands with Babe Ruth’s baseball glove. LaFountain, in the 1960s, was a Little League legend for his home run skills in greater Utica, NY, where he still lives half the year. He spends the other half on The Bear Cluba high-end condo development in South Florida with a Jack Nicklaus golf course. Nicklaus pronounces the chiropractor’s last name the French way, La-fon-taine. LaFountain pronounces it the Utica way, as in water fountain.

When LaFountain entered the Tour, players were still sipping Cokes at the turn in the name of the nine’s power boost. It was a different day. “When I came out here, there was a fitness trailer with a universal gym in it,” LaFountain said. A universal gym is that shiny chrome structure for lifting weights with various cables that is the centerpiece of every high school football and wrestling training room. “Now we’re getting to where we’ll have three trailers on tour, one for therapy, one for fitness, one for recovery.”

The original trailer was a trailer, about what you would see in a camper. Now the trailers are 53 feet long and eight feet wide when on the road (accumulating tens of thousands of miles a year, driven by professional drivers from North Carolina). Once these monster trucks are in the touring venues, they expand like an accordion and triple in width. The Tour spends millions on this entire operation and gets that money and then some through sponsorships. When Woods turned pro, you associated the PGA Tour with Buick and other GM cars. Now you’re more likely to associate it with the Mayo Clinic, the official medical resource for the PGA Tour. As LaFountain sees it, it’s impossible to overstate the impact Woods has had in transforming the Tour player into a year-round athlete.

Only there will be more. As tournament fields get smaller and professional golf finds itself awash in money and outside investors, the approach to player health is undergoing a radical change. The days of the golfer having his own health and wellness company at every tournament are over. “It’s interesting because these players are individual contractors, but our approach now is more like what you see on an NFL team.” When a field only has 70 or 80 players in it, it’s in the PGA Tour’s best interest to keep everyone healthy and performing at their highest level. Some will see this as evolution, an adaptation (to use a favorite phrase of corporate America) of “best practices.” Others like another stab in the soul of the former cowboy of the professional player. Regardless, here’s the game, leaning in the direction of science over art.

At the Ryder Cup, there was a corpse-only coach. At every Tour event, there is a Tour-sanctioned nutritionist. You want advice on fuel (aka food), the Tour has an expert on hand with answers. And actual food to go with it.

“Tiger figured that out, years ago — he was ahead of everybody,” LaFountain said. He described the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup team rooms of Tiger’s early career. LaFountain would see the players go for a second dessert while Woods was eating grilled chicken and a baked potato and called it a night. Everyone saw it. Many changed ways. Now dieting is a way of life on tour. Exercise is a way of your life. Deep tissue massage, same. Chiropractic adjustments, same thing. Immerse in 50 degree water for three minutes, same thing. (“Listen to some f-bombs,” LaFountain said.) Compression therapy boots. Zero gravity chair. Stem cell injections. Along the way, a sea change in the dialogue.

Player: Should I go in even if it doesn’t hurt?

Physics: yes.

Player: Am I on a ball count?

Physics: Always.

Player: Am I headed for surgery?

Physics: Not if I can help it.

This month, Tiger Woods underwent back surgery for the seventh time. At the end of the year, he turns 50, meaning 2026 would be the first year he would qualify for the Senior PGA Championship (at Concession Golf Club next year, the week after the Masters), the US Senior Open (at Scioto Country Club in late June) and the Senior British Open (at Gleneagles in late July). Nobody is really talking about golfer Tiger Woods these days. Well, no one. Tom LaFountain is.

“Tiger is so competitive, he has so much drive, he’s willing to work so hard, you can be sure he’s going to do everything he can to prepare himself for those events,” LaFountain said. “He is someone who is always looking for a new challenge.”

In early March 2019, Tiger Woods was deeply focused on the upcoming Masters. He told LaFountain, “You have 33 days here.” Thirty-three days to help Woods get his body right where it needs to be as he strives to win his fifth Masters. As everyone knows, Woods did. Afterward, Woods said, “Tom, thank you for helping make this happen.”

Tiger Woods has good hands. We all know that. Apparently, so does Tom LaFountain. Who knew?

Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com