Tiger Woods and his 11-year-old son Charlie were four shots back of the lead after the first round of a two-day exhibition event in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday.
Team Woods opened the PNC Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club with a 10-under-par 62 that left them in a share of sixth place in a 20-team field consisting of major champions and winners of The Players alongside a family member.
“First and foremost, I’m Dad,” Tiger said after the round.
“But there is that competitive spirit that Charlie and I both share, and we want to win, but also being competitive and being with each other and leaning on one another, it was an absolute blast.”
Charlie Woods, the youngest competitor in the tournament’s history and perhaps its most anticipated, quickly produced highlights reminiscent of the type his father delivered while collecting 15 major championships.
Despite the scramble format, the younger Woods eagled the par-five third hole on his own as Team Woods opted to play Charlie’s drive, which left them about 175 yards into the hole.
Charlie stuck his approach to about four feet and then sank the putt for the only eagle at that hole all day.
At the par-four ninth, Charlie again looked every part his father with a walk-it-in birdie putt to reach the turn at eight under par.
The duo cooled down somewhat on the back nine but Charlie still produced some notable moments, including at the par-four 16th where he nearly holed out from the fairway to set up a short birdie.
“Perfect 6-iron,” Tiger said. “He made such a beautiful swing and almost holed it.”
Team Woods will be paired with twice major champion John Daly and son Little John on Sunday.
Matt Kuchar and his 13-year-old son Cameron held a two-shot lead over Vijay Singh and son Qass while Australian Greg Norman and son Greg Jr. were a further shot adrift along with Team Lehman and Team Duval.
