Tiger Woods walked voluntarily to the PNC Championship.
Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
Their fifth attempt at PNC Championship was the closest Tiger and Charlie Woods have come to claim the coveted Willie Park Trophy belts, but the most encouraging thing the elder Woods did this week had nothing to do with that performance.
Since Woods made his first competitive appearance (and we use that term quite loosely) following his February 2021 car crash at the PNC Championship, he has taken advantage of the tournament’s status as a PGA Tour Champions event, allowed him to use a cart to get around the golf course.
Throughout his comeback, Woods has been adamant that his game and swing aren’t what’s holding him back in 72-hole events, but simply going 18 holes a day.
Earlier this week, Woods changed his tune, claiming it was the opposite after he avoided a bogey, qualifying for the Pro-Am round on Friday.
“Rusty. Very rusty,” Woods said, describing his game Friday. “I don’t have my feel. My trajectory is off. My shaping shots. This is a practice round and I’m not looking forward to being cold ( (Saturday morning).Hopefully Charlie runs it well so I can pick it up and move on.”
He ended up walking all 36 holes in the competition this week as well. That’s not necessarily a surprising feat since Woods has gone 36 holes or more now five times this season — and no one is comparing a flat Ritz-Carlton Golf club to Augusta National — but it’s the first time he’s done it. voluntarily. When he takes it to a major championship at the Genesis Invitational, he can’t afford a cart, nor would he want to.
Woods was asked in 2021, when he made his first post-accident appearance at the PNC, if he would ever apply to use a wheelchair on the PGA Tour under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Team Bernhard Langer defeats Team Tiger Woods for 6th PNC Championship title
Jack Hirsch
“Absolutely not,” he replied. “Not for a PGA Tour event, no. That’s just not who I am. I haven’t always been like that, and if I can’t play at that level, I can’t play at that level.”
But it’s a benefit that he took advantage of that week in Orlando and has done so in each of the next three seasons, until this week.
It didn’t seem to hurt his game either, as he and Charlie “bacon and egged it” in the scramble format to a tournament record tying 28 under for 36 holes. WHEREAS Charlie’s ace Sunday was the best shot the team hit all week, Tiger Woods had enough of his elite irons to show for his escape from the trees on Sunday.
Woods even dazzled with a dramatic off-the-deck driver on the par-5 14th that reached 173 mph, landed and held the green, giving the team an eagle look.
Behind him and Charlie it eventually fell to Bernhard and Jason Langer in a playoffhe again underestimated his game.
“I’m nowhere near competitive shape,” Woods told Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis. “I’m a great sparring partner. We put together a great team this week and that’s the whole joy of it.”
Woods has nearly two months before his next potential start at the Genesis Invitational, and only time will tell if he believes his game is ready for it. But it looks like he might be ready for the ride.
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