Tiger Woods makes pro-am walk ahead of title hunt with son Charlie
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Tiger and Charlie Woods hug after finishing on the 18th green during the pro-am prior to the PNC Championship.
PHOTO: AFP
MIAMI – Tiger Woods is feeling fit after rejecting the use of a golf cart in favour of walking on Dec 15 during a pro-am round at the PNC Championship as he prepares to regain his form for 2024.
The 15-time Major winner and his 14-year-old son Charlie will play in the 36-hole tournament that features elite golfers teaming up with a family member this weekend in Orlando, Florida.
Woods, who turns 48 on Dec 30, has struggled to walk since a 2021 car crash in which he suffered severe leg injuries.
Until finishing 18th in the 20-man Hero World Challenge two weeks ago, he had not played since the Masters after undergoing ankle surgery in April.
“I felt like I was physically fit to do it (walk), and also, walking is always better for my back,” Woods said. “I just wanted to keep it loose, keep it going and we’re just having so much fun, it doesn’t matter. We had a good time.”
As the tournament is sanctioned by the PGA Tour Champions, Woods can use a golf cart if he wants to do so, whereas players competing in PGA Tour events must walk.
“It’s a blast for us to be back out here, playing and competing and just enjoying this atmosphere,” Woods added of the PNC Championship. “Hopefully we’re able to post something good.”
Woods also said he was feeling well and not as rusty as at the Hero World Challenge.
“Definitely a bit better,” he said. “I was able to knock a lot of the rust off at Hero and my hands felt better with control hitting shots, and especially today with the wind blowing as hard as it was, I was able to hit flighted shots nicely.”
Charlie has won a state high school title and given his father a new challenge as the parent of a talented young golfer.
“I provide guardrails for him and things that I would like to see him learn and address, but also, then again, I’m trying to provide as much space as I can for him,” the elder Woods added.
“There’s so much of the noise in our lives that people are always trying to get stuff out of us, and my job as a parent is to protect him from a lot of that stuff.”
Rival Justin Thomas said a win by Woods and son would be extra special.
“Winning Majors is unbelievable and how he has won his Majors, but doing that together with Charlie and as he’s watched him grow up, it would be a very different kind of win,” he said. AFP, REUTERS
