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MIAMI • Charlie Woods wowed his father Tiger, 15-time Major Champion, with an impressive eagle for Team Woods at the PNC Championship family tournament in Orlando, Florida on Saturday.
The 11-year-old put his drive across the fairway on the third par-five hole at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, then hooked a five-woods approach around some trees.
The ball bounced near the green and landed three feet from the pin, with Charlie punching like his father before rolling on the putt.
Woods, beaming, hugged his son and exclaimed: “First eagle!” as they walked off the green.
Charlie, whose swing is so reminiscent of his superstar father, has drawn a lot of buzz this weekend, exhausting another birdie putt in the first-round scramble format, following the ball as it rolled into the cup and into the ninth. At 13, he hit a sweet tee shot and signaled to Tiger, who was playing from the tournament tees further back, that he didn’t even need to hit a tee.
“It was some of the most incredible golf shots,” the former world No. 1 laughed. “He had the best time to be in this environment. I’ve seen him all the time. A lot of the shots he hit, I’ve seen them all this year.
“We had so much fun being together and cheering each other on. It was the most perfect environment.
“First of all, I’m dad. There is that competitive spirit that Charlie and I share. We want to win, but being competitive, being together and supporting each other, was wonderful.”
The Woods duo got off to a good start in their first official tournament together, with six birdies and an eagle in the top nine.
They combined for a 10 under 62 that left them sharing sixth, four shots behind reigning Singapore Open champion Matt Kuchar and his son Cameron.
Vijay Singh and his son Qass came in second, two shots adrift, with Australian Greg Norman and son Greg Jr. another shot back and tied with Tom and Sean Lehman, and David and Brady Duval. The great LPGA Annika Sorenstam and her father Tom were together in 14th place with seven less.
The two-day exhibition tournament features 20 teams of top champions paired with a family member. Charlie is the youngest competitor to participate, and Tiger has stressed all week that the main goal was to have fun with his son.
“I don’t really care about my game. I’m just making sure Charlie has the best time of his life and he’s doing it,” he said. “I make sure he can enjoy all of this.”
The duo played alongside World No. 3 Justin Thomas and his father, Mike. The 2017 PGA Championship winner revealed that young Woods was already an accomplished trash talker, having trolled Team Thomas with a note when they were in a bunker.
“It started in the pro-am. Charlie drove one across the street and my dad was playing in front of them and he hit it across the street and into the trees,” he said.
“My dad wrote on a sheet of paper, ‘poke a hole’ and put it under his ball. As is typical in Woods, he kept the sheet of paper, and when my dad hit it in the bunker, he put exactly the same piece of paper behind his ball. “
However, Mike admitted that Charlie’s cheek is backed up by his growing talent on the greens. “I knew what I had,” he said. “It was impressive. Very impressive.”
FRANCE PRESS AGENCY, REUTERS
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