Say the return to competition for Tiger wood was a success would be an understatement.
Playing alongside son Charlie and with daughter Sam as caddy, 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, Fla. .
The spectacular performance put the father and son team at the top of the standings in a three-way tie for the lead.
Playing in a scramble format, Woods finished the day with 13 birdies on their scoreboard in a bogey-free round. Tiger and Charlie birdied seven of nine holes on the back nine on Saturday.
“Being here in this environment and having fun like this — it doesn’t get any better,” Woods told NBC after the round.
The tournament ends Sunday after another 18-hole round.
“This week is about each other, and we try so hard for each of us to hit every shot we want to,” Tiger Woods said.
This is the fifth time Team Woods has competed in the two-day, 36-hole competition that features 20 major champions and their family members.
Woods’ public return to golf comes after enjoying success back surgery in September.
Before 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 only completed four full rounds twice since suffering serious leg injuries in a car crash 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 string of good rounds.
“I’ve had a lot of procedures over time,” Woods said Friday. “I’m not going to feel the way I felt before. And the recovery will be more difficult. I can spend a day here or there, but as the tours, weeks, months go by, it becomes more and more difficult.
Woods said 15-year-old Charlie beat him in a round of golf for the first time – although he quickly clarified that it was nine holes, not 18.
“Yeah, he beat me through nine holes,” Woods told reporters Friday, according to the PGA Tour. “He hasn’t beaten me through 18 holes yet. This day is coming; I just extend it as long as possible.
Woods said Charlie had grown “3.5 to 4 inches tall” and had gotten “stronger, faster, heavier” since last year. So he’s hoping Charlie will handle all the driving and putting while Tiger can just serve as a “backup” in the tournament.
Woods also shared the advice he gave his son for dealing with the pressure of competing with the Woods name.
“I always remind him, ‘Just be you.’ Charlie is Charlie. Yes, he’s my son, he’ll have that last name in sports, but I just want him to be himself, you know, and be your own person. That’s what we’ll always focus on, and we’ll always encourage him, that he just makes his own name and makes his own path and goes on his own journey.
When asked how Charlie is handling the attention so far, Woods said, “I think he’s doing a great job.”
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