December is all about family traditions, and today was the start of relatively new one that has quickly become one of the golf world’s favorites.
Tiger and Charlie Woods played their opening round of the PNC Championship today at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida. This is the fourth consecutive year that Team Woods has teed it up in this 36-hole, parent-child scramble.
While Woods’ career once was defined by his performances in March, April, June and July, December has become the month of Tiger. The PNC comes a couple weeks after his Hero World Challenge, which Woods played a couple weeks ago. The Hero was his first tournament since having fusion surgery on an ankle joint after this year’s Masters.
Woods finished 18th in the Hero’s 20-man field, displaying some promising signs while also showing the expected rust and fatigue after his long layoff. This week’s PNC offers another opportunity for him to prepare for his return to the TOUR in 2024 – he believes he can play once a month next year – and for Charlie’s continued progress to be on full display.
Charlie is now 14 and has grown 4 inches in the past year, according to his father. That meant he had to move back a set of tees for this year’s PNC Championship, but that didn’t have much impact on Team Woods because Charlie also displayed copious clubhead speed on Saturday. He drove it over one green and hit several tee shots over 300 yards. Notah Begay, Tiger’s college teammate and close friend, said that Charlie’s clubhead speed sits somewhere between 115-120 mph. Begay also noted that Charlie can “cruise” at a ball speed in the mid-170s with his driver.
“For his age, (that’s) quite a lot of ball speed,” Begay said. Tiger got both his kids involved Saturday, as daughter Sam served as his caddie for the first time.
“For me to have both my kids inside the ropes like this and participating and playing and being part of the game of golf like this, it couldn’t have been more special for me,” Tiger said, “and I know that we do this a lot at home, needle each other and have a great time. But it was more special to do it in a tournament like this.”
For Team Woods, it was the shorter clubs that kept them from going lower Saturday. Their 8-under 64 leaves them T11 in the 20-team field after the first round. They’re seven shots behind the leaders, Matt Kuchar and his son, Cameron, and four back of the four teams that are tied for second: the Langers, Singhs, Goosens and Duvals. Those latter three were some of Tiger’s toughest competition during his prime years.
The PNC’s host venue, the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, has wide fairways and large greens. Tiger and Charlie were in the fairway with wedge in hand throughout the day but didn’t hit enough approach shots close to the hole, nor did they hole many putts. There were too many two-putt pars for this low-scoring format.
“I drove the ball really good today,” Charlie said. “Didn’t miss a fairway, and still managed to shoot 8-under. We just suck at putting.”
Added Tiger, “That sums it up right there.”
A pair of 10-footers were the longest putts they made all day, surprising considering they get two cracks at each attempt. Team Woods had two two-putt birdies on par-5s on the front nine and another came from just off the green on the par-4 13th after Charlie’s tee shot landed on the green before rolling to the back fringe. The rest were on putts inside 5 feet after getting near the green on short par-4s and the par-5 18th.
Charlie’s clubhead speed was the highlight of the day. On the front nine, he twice hit the green on par-5s with iron shots that sailed more than 200 yards. Then he drove it into a greenside bunker on the par-4 seventh and displayed a nifty short game with a high, spinning sand shot that carried some 20 yards before stopping near the hole. They closed the front nine with Tiger’s 10-foot birdie putt.
Their first birdie on the back nine came after Charlie drove it within 40 yards of the 11th green and wedged to 5 feet. He hit the shot of the day two holes later, carrying his drive more than 300 yards and onto the green. Charlie birdied the par-3 17th after hitting his tee shot to 10 feet, and they closed with one more birdie after Tiger hit his approach just over the final green and chipped it close to the hole.
“I like the way everything looks for next season,” Notah Begay said of Tiger. “He talked about playing once a month. I think that would be a nice, aggressive, manageable schedule. He can get the recovery routine down, he’ll be just fine.”
Tiger and Charlie will undoubtedly appear in their Sunday red-and-black for the final round, and they’ll need one of their father’s famous charges if they want to win the PNC for the first time.
12:40 p.m.
We’re off the par train! That’s not a good ride to be on in the scramble format.
Another true birdie for Charlie, who hits his tee shot on the par-3 17th to 10 feet and then drains the putt.
It matches the longest putt they’ve made all day. Three of their seven birdies have come on two-putts. They’ve also made two 10-footers and had a couple birdie putts inside 5 feet after Charlie drove close to the green. It’s been a lot of two-putts today, as Team Woods has had no trouble finding the fairway and the putting surface. They just haven’t rolled them in.
12:27 p.m.
Three straight for the pars Woods, who are nine off the lead with two holes remaining in their second round. They’re going to be facing a sizable deficit in the second round.
The latest par exemplifies their day. They were in the fairway with wedge in hand but unable to capitalize. Notah Begay, who’s observed Charlie’s game closely, again makes the astute observation that Charlie is missing his wedges short and right because his swing is too steep and the ball rides up the face of the club. Woods doesn’t do much better from 87 yards, hitting his shot 15 feet past the hole. They two-putt for another par.
The highlight of the hole was the presence of Justin Thomas’ dog Franklin, who gives Tiger several kisses as he walks off the green.
11:57 a.m.
The Charlie recoil is on display again after he rips another drive into the fairway. He obviously loves the freedom of this scramble format, and fans love his swagger.
The team makes an unacceptable mistake after Tiger’s second shot sets them up just short of the par-5 green. Their ball lay just a couple feet off the ground, and both Tiger and Charlie chose to putt it but neither could get it closer than 15 feet from the hole. They both missed and made par to remain 6 under par, nine back of the Kuchars.
Charlie has produced a couple highlights today, including his drive that landed on the green on the previous hole, but it has been a pretty quiet performance from them. They just haven’t made enough putts to contend today.
11:40 a.m.
After another par at 12, Charlie produces another amazing shot on a short, dogleg par-4. He takes his drive over the trees and carries it onto the green. The ball lands about 15 feet from the hole before landing in the back fringe. The shot inspired a fan to yell, “Watch out, he’s coming!” Charlie’s reply?
“I’m already here.” Bold!
