This weekend’s PNC Championship has a main event, and I’m not sure his name is Tiger, Jordan or Justin. No, the person everyone is clamoring to see play golf in Orlando in the pro-am is Charlie Woods. Tiger’s son won the day last year when he nearly birdied his way to chasing down John Daly and his son for the victory. After a year of improvement and a golf swing that is about as good as it gets for a teenager, he’ll be the main event in 2022.
Humorously, there is some controversy (if you want to call it that) over what tee boxes Charlie will play. In an event that features an 11-year-old and an 87-year-old, there are a wide variety of tee boxes to be played. Charlie was reportedly going to play the second-longest tee boxes originally, but the tournament committee bumped him to the third-longest, according to Golf Channel. The course is expected to play around 6,400 yards from where he will tee off.
Tiger admitted last week that Charlie recently out-drove him, so I’m not sure the second-longest tees (around 6,700 yards) would have been an issue. The younger Woods will likely dominate from 6,400 yards.
Despite Tiger playing in just his fifth event of 2022, his son is the talk of the tournament even among other competitors.
“Anybody we play with will be a treat and will be a thrill,” said Jordan Spieth’s dad, Shawn, on Thursday. “Is Charlie carrying it 260 or 290? Everybody wants to know which one it is, so that will be fun, or more, after the last two weeks.”
“Charlie,” responded Padraig Harrington when asked which Woods he was more interested in seeing swing. From PNC transcripts:
“Actually, to be honest, definitely Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. But kind of just strange enough, after watching Tiger in The Match, to me, with a bit more speed and a bit more of that, like, you never doubt Tiger’s mental ability, and it’s always one where is he able to come back, and you don’t want to give up — like he looked better physically at that match and the speed.
“And you know me, obviously, I’m interested in that stuff. You know, you’d never run Tiger off, but I actually think he might be even better than that — in a better place than I had thought. So I will take a little sneaky look at Tiger, no doubt. But Charlie, to be honest, I’m more interested in Charlie.
“It’s very interesting for a 13-year-old. And he did it when he was 11. It’s hard to support the angles in a golf swing when you don’t have — at 11, he could hold the club at the right position. Like most kids who are good at 11, 12, 13 years of age, their swing hasn’t even come close to developing.
“Like I bet you if you went back and looked at Rory at 12 years of age, he was hitting a big loopy, you know, drop kicking. Because that’s what they do, kids. But Charlie has always managed to pressure the golf ball, which is exceptional at that age. It really is. So, yeah, I’d be looking at and looking at the swing to see how it is.”
Just a three-time major champion looking forward to seeing the swing. No pressure or anything.
Regardless, the Charlie-Tiger pairing — which is among the favorites to win the PNC at 5-1 — will be a fascinating watch on both accounts. Charlie, because he’s Tiger’s son and obviously gifted at golf, and Tiger, because he’s the best to ever do it and any chance to see him in the twilight of his extraordinary career is always quite a gift.