Tiger Woods’ goal to keep son, 15, from beating him over 18 holes

ORLANDO, Fla. — Tiger Woods turns 49 at the end of the month, and he has an urgent goal related to his golf. He wants to prolong the inevitable day when his son beats him over 18 holes.

They will play with—not against—each other this week for the fifth consecutive year at the PNC Championship, a 36-hole tournament so meaningful to them and everyone else in the field that Woods was determined to play for the first time since a sixth back operation in September.

However, there were rumors that 15-year-old Charlie finally beat his 15-time major champion father.

“He beat me in nine holes,” Woods said, an important clarification for him. “He hasn’t beaten me in 18 holes yet. That day will come. I’ll just extend it as long as I possibly can.”

As for the specifics, Woods talked about the typical banter between them and how much fun they have. It was clear that he would not share hole-for-hole with the loss.

Winning is a goal, but not the priority, at the PNC Championship. It’s a happy end to the year for all 20 teams at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando, an event that pairs the winners of majors or The Players Championship with a family member.

Woods played five tournaments this year and completed just one, making the cut at the Masters for a record 24th consecutive year. He had to play 23 holes Friday at Augusta National in a raging wind, posting a 72 for his best round of the year. He followed that with an 82, an example of the ups and downs of a player whose body has been wracked by injuries.

“I’m not going to feel what I’m used to feeling,” Woods said. “The recovery has gradually become the most difficult. But over the course of rounds, weeks, months it becomes more difficult.”

He missed the cut in the next three majors and then had lower back surgery in September to relieve some of the spasms he had been feeling. The timing of the operation was related to the PNC Championship.

Woods opted out of the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas two weeks ago, saying he wasn’t competitively sharp enough to handle Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay and Justin Thomas among a 20-man field of players from the top 40 in world.

This might as well be his fifth major because he is playing with his son.

“That was one of the reasons I had the surgery done earlier so I could hopefully give myself the best chance to be with Charlie and be able to play,” Woods said. “I’m not competitive right now, but I just want to have the experience again. This has always been one of the highlights of the year for us as a family, and now we get to have that moment together again. .”

The surgery was on his back, but Woods said his right leg, destroyed in a February 2021 car accident near Los Angeles, remains the biggest physical obstacle.

Still, he chose to walk the pro-am Friday instead of riding a cart, which is allowed for players because the tournament is co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour Champions.

Team Woods has yet to win since it began play in 2020. The duo finished second the following year by two shots to John Daly and his college son, when Charlie was 12. He’s increasing his height every year, filling out and hitting the golf ball. Woods plans to rely on his son’s tee shots in the scramble format.

They play the opening round Saturday with Justin Leonard and son Luke, who attends Benjamin School in North Palm Beach along with Charlie and will attend Villanova next year.

Charlie Woods went through US Open qualifying for the first time this year and failed to advance from the first stage. He qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills, but did not come close to reaching match play.

Woods appreciated that his son is in the spotlight that few others his age face.

“I always reminded him, ‘Just be you.’ Charlie is Charlie,” Woods said. “Yes, he’s my son. He’s going to have my last name and it’s going to be part of his core. But I just want him to just be himself and be his own person. That’s all we can do.

“I always encourage him to carve out his own name, carve out his own path and have his own journey,” he added. “I think he’s doing a great job. In this day and age where basically everyone is media, with all the phones that are constantly being filmed and constantly people are watching, it’s just part of his generation and it’s part of world he has to maneuver through.”