Tiger Carries Charlie as Team Woods Sits 2 Shots Back at PNC Championship
ORLANDO — The course measures just 7,100 yards, golf carts are in use and the feel-good vibe of the PNC Championship makes it difficult to glean too much intel from the proceedings.
And yet, there was Tiger Woods thumping a few drives past Justin Thomas, chipping in for an eagle, running in long putts ... and keeping him and his son, Charlie, in contention.
Tiger and Charlie Woods will play in the final group on Sunday, two shots behind Justin and Mike Thomas.
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“He played great today,’’ Charlie said of his dad. “He had to carry me all day."
That made everyone laugh, given the status and resume of his famous father. But it was true. Charlie, the star of this show the last two years, was dealing with a twisted left ankle that made it difficult for him to swing the club.
That meant dad did most of the work during a 13-under scramble score of 59 that left them two shots behind Thomas and his dad, Mike, after two rounds at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.
“It was nice to see him hit it so well," said Joe LaCava, Woods' longtime caddie. “He’s got a lot of speed, hitting it great. You’ve heard him talk. He can hit the shots. He just can’t walk."
And so it goes.
Woods is dealing with plantar fasciitis, a painful injury to his already badly damaged right foot. This year saw Woods come back to play the Masters, PGA Championship and British Open despite issues with his lower right leg that persists from a February 2021 car crash.
The plantar fasciitis began to surface last month as Woods was preparing for the Hero World Challenge, where he was scheduled to make his first start since the Open at St Andrews.
Woods was playing enough golf and preparing well enough that he had LaCava come from his Connecticut home to caddie for him at The Medalist during the week of Thanksgiving.
“That didn’t go so well," LaCava said. “He just couldn’t walk well enough."
They played two rounds and the pain was just too great. Woods held out hope it might subside but ended up withdrawing from the Hero on Nov. 28.
He still played in the made-for-TV exhibition last week with Rory McIlroy, Thomas and Jordan Spieth and was not going to miss this tournament, even though Woods said he could do further damage.
“We have fun out there," Woods said. “At the end of the day that's what it's all about. It's about us having an opportunity to bond. We do this at home all the time and you guys are now seeing what we do all the time at home. We just have fun. We needle each other. We encourage each other. It goes back and forth.
“It's just an amazing relationship, and it just deepens the bond between father and son. It's been incredible over the years to be able to share this stage and this atmosphere with him."
You have to go low in this format, and the Woods team got off to a slow start, parring the first hole and failing to birdie the par-5 3rd. But the elder Woods chipped in from off the green at the par-5 5th for an eagle that was part of a run that saw them go 9 under par in an eight-hole stretch.
They cooled off a bit over the closing holes but added one more birdie at the 18th to finish at 13 under par, two shots back of the Thomases and tied with Vijay Singh and his son, Qass, and Bernhard Langer and his son, Jason.
“He can hit any shot he wants and obviously some days are different than others," Justin Thomas said of Woods. “He said it himself: He has plenty of speed. He 100 percent hits it farther than I do with the driver right now, and when he's feeling well and moving well like he was today, he can do anything he wants.
“So it's nice that he has a cart and is able to enjoy this week."
Thomas gave Woods grief a few times for driving it past him and was clearly trying to outdo him at times. So far, however, he has the bragging rights. The Thomases won this tournament two years ago and will have a two-shot cushion in Sunday’s final round.
“They got the belt a couple years ago," Woods said referring to the Willie Park Belt that goes to the winner of the tournament. “They rubbed it in our face over Christmas dinner. They are in a great position to possibly do it again but we are going to have a little something to say about that."