Tiger Woods on His 5th PNC Challenge: “We're just going to have a blast!”

The legends playing have not lost their competitive desire even though their games may not be what they once were. But Team Woods may have more of a leg up this time around in Charlie. 

Charlie has grown three or four inches according to his famous father. And he beat his dad for nine holes this season. Given another year, the duo may be unstoppable.   

“He beat me for nine holes, has yet to beat me for 18 holes,” the elder Woods explained. “That day is coming. I'm just prolonging it as long as I possibly can.”

According to Tiger Woods, he and his son have a great time teasing each other on the course.

“There's always chirping. There's non-stop banter. That's the fun part,” he added. “We just have fun and give the needle as much as you possibly can because you're going to have to take it.”

Woods is hoping he doesn’t have to hit many drives during the event, although a drive shown on Golf Channel looked solid and like he was in control of his swing. He has also been doing a lot of walking according to those on site.

Regardless, Team Woods seems to have a game plan.  

“So, he drives it in play, we go out there, hit iron shots. He makes all the putts, and I just am a good backup,” Woods said about the strategy for the twosome.

As far as his own status in terms of playing, Woods is not yet PGA Tour tournament-ready. The PNC allows competitors to use a golf cart. Technically, it is a PGA Tour Champions event.

“I struggled a lot with my back, and that's why I had the procedure done. It's a lot better, but I still have a long way to go,” he explained.

Woods mentioned that because, due to the number of surgeries he’s had, he knows what is involved in the recovery process.

“I'm not going to feel what I used to feel. The recovery is going to be the hardest part,” he added. “I can do it for a day here and there, but over the course of rounds, weeks, months, it gets harder.”

To succeed in a PGA Tour event, a golfer has to be on top of his game for three or four rounds, not one or two. The secret sauce is not making mistakes.  

“Preparing for competitive play is different. That takes months, weeks,” Woods insisted. “It starts with each and every day. You just do the little things correctly, and they add up. From the moment you get up, just do all the little things, the mundane, the things you know you have to do.”

But the biggest issue is he’s not getting any younger.  Woods turns 49 on December 30th. Only a year and a week to the PGA Tour Champions, should he decide to play it.

When asked to reflect on his career, and what was his best year, he said it would have to be 2000.  That was the year that he won three majors, the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA, and then he capped it off with a victory at the 2001 Masters for what would become known as the Tiger Slam when he had, as he pointed out, all four trophies on the mantle at the same time.

“The hard part was the six months that you have to wait between the PGA and Augusta, all that add-up, and every single time I played, all the questions,” he admitted. “The buildup into 2001 was a lot. I think that was the harder part of trying to focus and build that up, and then at the same time preparing for that one moment, that week, and happened to do it.” 

He said it like it was accidental, but everyone alive at that time knows how purposeful it was and how determined he was to win every time he teed it up, particularly to get that fourth major in a row.

“I think the way I played in Pebble and St. Andrews, I was thinking clearly. I was hitting through every shot,” he recalled. “I didn't compound many problems. Any foul balls I may have hit, got back on schedule, put the ball in the right spots, and I made everything for those two weeks.”

This week, although many of the fathers call it the fifth major, it is about father-son or father-daughter time. 

“We want to win, but it's about the bonding. It's about having the family. It's about us having a father-son moment together,” Woods said. “Last year I had Sam on the bag. It was her first time ever carrying. This is a family event.”  

For Charlie, this is his fifth year participating. So, he’s not a rookie by any means.

The Woods team’s best finish was second place behind John Daly and John Daly II in 2021. Last year, they were 6th.

Once again, the team to beat at the PNC is probably Bernhard Langer and his son Jason who are defending champs. Bernhard has paired up with two different children to win the event five times, most recently in 2023 with Jason. That year, they shot a final round 59 to keep David Duval and his son from winning. Langer has two victories with his son Stefan and three with Jason. 

When they were asked who is going to win this year, Bernhard said, “Hopefully you're looking at them.”

Langers are tied in total victories with Raymond Floyd and his son Robert who won five times as a team.

The event is 18 holes Saturday and 18 holes Sunday with a lot of TV coverage on Golf Channel, Peacock, and NBC Sports. Saturday: 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 12:30-4 p.m. ET (Peacock)
Sunday: 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 12:30-1:30 p.m. ET (Peacock); 1:30-4:30 p.m. ET (NBC)