DailyExpertNews
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It may be a rare sighting these days, but golf fans have long gotten used to seeing Tiger Woods wearing red on Sundays.
But at the PNC Championship, spectators saw double. For the final round of the annual Orlando event, Tiger and son Charlie teed off perfectly symmetrically.
At 13, his dad has won two more majors than he’s had birthdays, but Charlie impressed the whole time at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, his tee approach and swing drawing unavoidable, yet eerily accurate. equations to that of his playing partner.
The pair finished tied for eighth place in a star-studded 20-player field, with only players who have won a major championship or The Players Championship invited to play with their relatives. After finishing second last year, the Woods finished six shots behind Fiji’s three-time main champion Vijay Singh and his son Qass Singh.
In addition to matching outfits, the duo also coordinated through pain when playing. Woods, who played in only his second event since his emotional St. Andrews outing at The Open in July, suffered plantar fasciitis, pain in the bottom of his foot, while Charlie admitted he struggled with an ankle injury suffered from rolling it during a workout. round.
Injury is the story of Woods’ recent career, his playing time decimated since he suffered a serious leg injury in a car accident in February 2021. The 46-year-old withdrew from the Hero World Challenge earlier this month due to foot pain, and had difficulty moving at various points during the seventh running of The Match last week.
“It’s been a tough year, but also one of the more rewarding years I’ve had in ages,” Woods told reporters on Sunday.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever play St Andrews in a British Open again, but to see that maybe one last time at this level was very special to me.”
Father and son shared a golf cart to get around the course and could sometimes be seen limping over the weekend. But with two good feet between them, Woods believes he and his son were “perfect yin and yang.”
“He has a left foot, I have a right foot and so we have two good feet – we are good,” Woods told SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio on Saturday.
“There’s a big difference between pain and injury… When you’re injured you don’t play, this is just a little bit of pain and it’s game time – so we just go out and soak it up together.”
Charlie added: “I have found a new respect for him now, having suffered a very minor injury.
“Just to see what he’s going through, just a fraction of it, and see how much it hurts. It’s cool how he got to where he is now after everything he’s been through.”
After a day of friendly back-and-forth with Justin Thomas and his dad Mike, who finished joint second, Charlie saved a backhanded compliment for his dad.
“I feel like I already knew what he was capable of and yesterday, that’s the best he’s ever played in a while, and that kind of shocked me,” he told reporters.
The laughter in the press room died down, but flared up again with Woods’ reply.
“I used to be good,” he said.
“It was nice to be able to turn back the clock so he could see what I used to be capable of.”