ORLANDO, Fla. — Tiger wood and son Charlie, 15, made five consecutive birdies on the back nine Saturday for a 13-under 59 in the melee format, giving them a share of the PNC Championship lead in the former’s first competition since heart surgery. back in September. .
Woods said he scheduled the surgery — the sixth on his lower back in the last 10 years — to make sure he recovered in time to play with his son for the fifth year in a row.
This is the first time they have shared the lead after the first round, joined by the two previous champions — Bernhard Langer and his son Jason and Vijay Singh and his son Qass.
Woods hit a series of good shots, including a wedge within inches on the short par-4 seventh, but otherwise downplayed his play by suggesting he still had a lot of rust. Rather, it was spending 36 holes on a busy day at the Ritz-Carlton Club Orlando with his son, a sophomore at the Benjamin School in North Palm Beach.
His daughter, Sam, caddied for her father for the second year in a row. Elin, Sam and Charlie’s mother, was among those in the gallery during a tournament devoted entirely to family.
“We try to make every shot for each other, and go ham and egg,” Woods said. “And I think we did that wonderfully all day. We recovered, which was great. And Charlie made most of the putts today.
It helped that I played in the same group as the former British Open champion. Justin Leonard and his son, Luke, a senior and teammate of Charlie’s at Benjamin School.
Langer extended his astonishing PGA Tour Champions record this year by winning for an 18th consecutive season. He and his son made eight birdies over a nine-hole stretch in the middle of the round, and they made an eagle on the 14th hole.
Singh and his son, who won this event in 2022, shot 28 on the back nine.
“There are so many teams competing,” Langer said. “It’s a game for anyone who is three or four shots behind the leaders, which is most of the field.”
Padraig Harrington and his son Paddy, and Tom Lehman and son Sean, had a score of 12-under 60. The Lehmans appeared to lead when around the green at the par-5 18th, but then needed four shots to get going in the melee format, taking a bogey.
Having Team Woods in the mix is enough to attract attention.
“It’s great for the tournament and happy for them,” Langer said. “It should be fun for the crowd to come tomorrow and watch everyone play.”
Woods has not competed since the British Open in July.
For Team Woods, it’s about not looking too far ahead. The father knows this only too well with his record 82 titles on the PGA Tour. The son got a lesson on that this summer.
Charlie Woods qualified for his first US Junior Amateur, going to Oakland Hills but not staying there very long. He shot rounds of 82-80 and failed to make match play. He also fell short in Monday’s qualifying for the Cognizant Classic on the PGA Tour and U.S. Open qualifying.
But he said US Junior was his biggest learning moment.
“It’s about focusing on my game,” Charlie said. “I was so focused on winning and how I was playing that it kind of crept into how I’m going to win rather than how I’m going to play the shot. And it kind of built up and it led to two really, really bad rounds of golf. But live and learn.
His father listened to the answer and nodded.
“Learn,” Woods said.
The PNC Championship is for players who have won a major tournament or the Players Championship and a member of their family. Annika Sorenstam plays with her son, while Nelly Korda plays with his father. Steve Stricker – winner of seven senior majors – plays with his daughter Izzy, a freshman at Wisconsin.
Korda dazzled with a metal fairway out of the sand on the par-5 14th to set up an eagle. Team Korda was four shots behind.