Tiger Woods was recently asked a question for a promotional video: Which three people would he most like to play a round with? Woods immediately knew an answer, possibly because he had often imagined the situation himself. “I don’t need three people. With Charlie and my father,” Woods said of his dream round on a golf course, which will never happen – because Earl Woods died in 2006, three years before Tiger’s son Charlie was born.
For Woods it is therefore an explicit highlight of every year when the PNC Championship takes place in Orlando in December – and at least part of his dream comes true for two days. Until a few years ago, the PNC was known as the Father/Son Challenge. The criteria for qualification: One of the two must have won a major tournament or the Players Championship, then you can nominate the father or son and compete as a team of two.
Of course, Woods meets these criteria with ease and this is his second time competing with his son Charlie, 13, who had received the most attention last year. The then 12-year-old played an eagle (two strokes under par) live on TV, holed putts with dad-style cool gestures and trash-talked with Justin Thomas and his dad Mike – Tiger was behind it all him, smiled and could hardly hide his pride.
Charlie is now in puberty – he is getting stronger and can keep up
The pictures this year were little different, although it is now known that Charlie is not just a talented youngster with a very famous father – he may well have the skills to turn pro one day. He now hits the ball further than his father, at least from time to time: “I hate having to say that (…) but he actually did it,” said Woods, who has also been able to deal with it as a professional in recent years had to ensure that younger professionals were able to hit more shots than him. He is now 46 years old.
So now also Charlie, who stood out in Orlando above all because he seemed much more grown-up and stronger. He is unmistakably in puberty and matures into a man. He had no trouble keeping up with his father – even if it didn’t match last year’s result. At that time, the Woods/Woods duo was only relegated to second place by the John Daly/John Daly II duo, this time both ended up sharing eighth place, one stroke behind Team Langer with Bernhard, 65, and his son Jason, 22. Langer has won the tournament five times, unlike this year’s tournament winners, Vijah Singh, 59, and his son Qass, 32, who have been competing for 16 years and have finally achieved success.
In terms of sport, Team Woods didn’t lack much to keep up: Tiger showed that his courageous announcement a few weeks ago that he could keep up with the world’s best in terms of play was not just empty words. He played fantastic shots like in his best times, the only problem is that he still has trouble walking with his injured knee. Just like Charlie, who also hobbled with an ankle injury, but played an eagle again – which wasn’t too sensational anymore: Good results are no longer a surprise for him, he is considered one of the most talented players in his age group in the USA.
He should rather learn the swing from Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland, Papa Woods told his son that he was better than his own. But when it comes to work ethic and mentality, Tiger Charlie should be able to give something along the way. Hardly anyone knows better how important a father can be as a mentor. It was Grandpa Earl who paved the way for Tiger. Now it’s obviously up to Tiger to pass on the golfing legacy to Charlie.
