Tiger and Charlie Woods co-lead PNC. Surprised? You didn’t have to be

The last time Tiger Woods held a share of the first-round lead in a professional golf tournament was more than five years ago. Location: The 2019 Zozo Championship in Chiba, Japan, where Woods and Gary Woodland shot identical 64s to lead after 18 holes. Woods would go on to win three times that week, claiming his 82nd PGA Tour title, which tied him with Sam Snead atop the Tour’s all-time wins list.

No one would or should be wrong PNC Championship — a PGA Tour Champions-sanctioned event that pits 20 parent-child teams in a 36-hole scramble — for a full 72-hole PGA Tour event like Zozo, but, man, only the most jaded cynic could moved by looking WOOD back to the top of the leaderboard, as it were Saturday at PNC.

When the dust settled at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Tiger and his 15-year-old son, Charlie, had made 12 birdies and not a single bogey or worse. Their score of 59 has them in pole position at the halfway mark, tied with the Langer and Singh teams, with the Lehmans and Harringtons hot on their heels.

There was reason to believe the Woods boys, brilliant in their matching Day of the Red Sun gears, would not be competitive this week. For one, Tiger is still recovering from back surgery in September — his sixth — and still has “a long way to go,” he said Friday. He added: “I won’t feel what I’m used to feeling. The recovery has been the hardest part. But as the rounds go by, the weeks, the months, it gets harder.” Woods’ right leg, which he severely injured in a car accident in 2021, also remains a significant injury. Playing 18 holes is one thing, walking 18 is quite another.

There’s also the controversial state of Woods’ game, which he described to Golf Channel on Friday as “very rusty,” adding, “I don’t have my feelings and my trajectory is off.”

Here’s the thing, though: There was also reason to believe Woods’ boys WILL be competitive this week, and not just because Tiger is one of the toughest competitors to ever walk the earth, state of his game be damned. For one, Tiger and Charlie aren’t watching Scottie, Rory and Bryson this week. Their opponents include 13-year-old Will McGee (son of Annika Sorenstam) and 89-year-old Gary Player; Tiger and Charlie also only have 19 teams to beat, and the scrimmage format allows Tiger, if he feels the need, to take a swing there as well.

Team Woods also has something else: Charlie, who is playing in his fifth PNC this week, is a year older and wiser than he was in December 2023. A better year, too. Charlie is a sophomore at Benjamin High School in South Florida, where he plays on the golf team alongside Justin Leonard’s son, Luke. A year ago the team won the state title. This year, Charlie lowered his batting average by four strokes, to 70.75. his trainer, Toby Harbeckhe told me the other day. Harbeck said if anything holds Charlie back, it’s his decision-making on the course, but he plays with strength and intensity right out of his old man’s playbook. Charlie burn to win.

On Saturday, Charlie and his father made it look easy, although neither player seemed impressed by their performances. “It felt great,” Charlie said. “I didn’t hit it well, but my dad saved me on a couple of them and I got them in.”

Surprisingly, Tiger was also quick to give credit to his playing partner. “We’re trying to make every shot for each other, and for the bacon and the egg, and I think we did really well all day,” Tiger said. “And Charlie made almost most of the shots.”

Tiger reiterated that his game is “rusty,” but there was at least one very encouraging sign: Tiger birdied all 18 holes, just as he had in Friday’s practice round. He is allowed to use a wheelchair at PNC, but is not selected. If you’re looking for signs that its recovery is progressing, this development certainly qualifies, even if the flat Ritz-Carlton layout isn’t exactly Augusta National.

“Preparing for competitive play is different,” Tiger said Friday. “It takes months, weeks. But it starts with every day. You just do the little things right and they add up. From the moment you get up, just do all the little, mundane things, the things you know you have to do.”

If we know one thing about Tiger, he doesn’t take those little things lightly. The same will be true of how he prepares for Sunday’s second and final round at PNC. Tiger has said all week that he’s just here to have fun, and Charlie echoed a similar sentiment after his round Saturday. But make no mistake, Woods also traveled to Orlando to win. And now that they are well positioned to do so, the competitive juices are flowing. The nerves are there too. Tiger said he felt butterflies that first Saturday.

At the end of his and Charlie’s post-round presser, Tiger was asked, now that he and his son are deep in the hunt, if his competition would begin.

Anyone with even a passing knowledge of Tiger’s approach to the game knew exactly how he was going to respond, but, gosh, after all these years of on-and-off-course struggles, it felt good to hear him say it anyway.

“It’s always there,” Tiger said.