ORLANDO, Fla. — Tiger Woods will turn 49 at the end of this month, and he has a pressing golf-related goal. He hopes to prolong the inevitable days when his son beats him in an 18-hole match.
This week, for the fifth consecutive year, they will play together rather than against each other at the PNC Championship, a 36-hole tournament that means as much to them as it does to everyone else on the field, and Woods is determined to compete for the first time since September. Since my sixth back surgery.
However, news broke that 15-year-old Charlie had finally beaten his 15-time major champion father.
“He beat me by nine holes,” Woods said, an important clarification for him. “He hasn't beaten me on 18 holes yet. That day is coming. I'm just trying to extend it as long as I can.”
As for details, Woods talked about their typical banter and how much fun they have. It was clear he wasn't going to share the loss on every hole.
At the PNC Championship, winning is the goal, but not the priority. It's a happy end of the year for all 20 teams at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, an event that pairs the winner of a major or The Players Championship with their families.
Woods competed in five tournaments this year but completed just one, advancing to the Masters for a record 24th consecutive year. He had to play 23 holes in strong winds at Augusta National on Friday to shoot a 72, his best round of the year. He then shot 82, an example of a player whose body has been up and down due to injuries.
“I'm not going to feel the same way I'm used to,” Woods said. “Recovery has become the hardest part. But over the course of rounds, weeks, months, it gets harder and harder.”
He missed the cut in the next three majors and then underwent lower back surgery in September to relieve cramps he had been feeling. The timing of the surgery is tied to the PNC Championship.
Two weeks ago, Woods opted not to compete in the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, saying he wasn't competitive enough to compete with Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay and 20 of the world's top 40 players. Justin Thomas contends.
This could be his fifth Grand Slam as he plays with his son.
“That's one of the reasons I had surgery early, to hopefully give myself the best chance to be with Charlie and be able to play ball,” Woods said. “I'm not competitive right now, but I just want to be able to have that experience again. It's been one of the biggest highlights of our year as a family and now we can have that moment together again.”
The surgery was performed on his back, but Woods said his right leg, injured in a February 2021 car accident near Los Angeles, remains the biggest physical hurdle.
Even so, he chose to play in the Pro-Am on Friday rather than ride in a carriage, which players are allowed to attend because the event is co-sanctioned by PGA Tour champions.
Woods has yet to win since starting the tournament in 2020. The older I get, the more I gain weight. Woods plans to rely on his son's tee shots in the scramble.
They will join Justin Leonard and son Luke, who attends Benjamin School in North Palm Beach with Charlie and will attend Villanova next year, in the first round on Saturday.
Charlie Woods qualified for the U.S. Open for the first time this year but failed to advance to the first stage. He qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills but was nowhere near competing in match play.
Woods is glad his son is in the spotlight that few others his age have.
“I always remind him, ‘Just be yourself.’ Charlie is Charlie.
“I always encouraged him to carve his own name, carve his own path, have his own journey,” he said. “I think he's done a great job. In today's day and age, where everyone is basically media and has a cell phone and is constantly being filmed and constantly being watched, that's just part of his generation and the world that he has to deal with. part.
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