Tiger Woods and son Charlie shine at PNC Championship in Woods’ return to competition
By Issy Ronald and Kevin Dotson, CNN
(CNN) — To say the return to competition for Tiger Woods was a success would be an understatement.
Playing alongside his son Charlie and with daughter Sam as his caddie, Team Woods carded a blistering 13-under round of 59 Saturday in the first round of the two-day PNC Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida.
The spectacular performance put the father and son team atop the standings in a three-way tie for the lead.
Playing in a scramble format, the Woodses finished the day with 13 birdies on their scorecard in a bogey-free round. Tiger and Charlie birdied seven of the nine holes on the back nine Saturday.
“To be our here in this environment and to have fun like this – it doesn’t get any better,” Woods told NBC after the round.
The tournament concludes Sunday after another 18-hole round.
“This week is for each other, and we’re just rooting so hard for each of us to pull off each shot that we want,” Tiger Woods said.
This is the fifth time Team Woods has played at the two-day, 36-hole competition that features 20 major champions and their family members.
Woods’ public return to golf comes after he underwent successful back surgery in September.
Prior to this week, Woods had not played competitive golf since The Open Championship in July. He has made just 13 starts on the PGA Tour over the past four seasons and has completed a full four rounds just twice since suffering serious leg injuries in a car accident in 2021.
On Friday, Woods revealed that after numerous surgeries in recent years, the physical toll often prevents the 15-time major winner from stringing together a series of good rounds.
“I’ve had a lot of procedures over the course of time,” Woods said Friday. “I’m not going to feel what I used to feel. And the recovery is going to be on the harder side. I can go for a day here or there, but over the course of rounds, weeks, months, it just gets harder.”
Woods said Charlie, aged 15, had beaten him in a round of golf for the first time – though he was quick to clarify it was over nine, not 18, holes.
“Yeah, he beat me for nine holes,” Woods told reporters on Friday, per the PGA Tour. “He has yet to beat me for 18 holes. That day is coming; I’m just prolonging it for as long as I possibly can.”
Woods said Charlie has grown “3.5 to 4 inches in height” and has gotten “stronger, faster, heavier” since last year, so he’s hoping that Charlie will handle all the driving and the putting while Tiger can just serve as “backup” in the tournament.
Woods also shared the advice he’s given his son to deal with the pressure of competing with the Woods name.
“I just always remind him ‘Just be you.’ Charlie is Charlie. Yes, he’s my son, he’s gonna have that last name as part of the sport, but I just want him to just be himself, you know, and be your own person. That’s what we’ll always focus on, and we’ll always encourage it, for him just to carve his own name, to carve his own path and have his own journey.”
When asked how Charlie is handling the spotlight so far, Woods answered, “I think he’s doing a great job.”
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