Tiger Woods and son Charlie shoot bogey-free 62 at PNC Championship
Tiger Woods looked solid but not entirely
pain-free on his return to competition after a car crash in February that
shattered his leg, teaming up with his 12-year-old son Charlie to shoot a
bogey-free 62 at the PNC Championship on Saturday.
Woods received a huge ovation from
spectators after he crushed his tee-shot on the par-four first hole onto the
fairway on a warm day at the relaxed non-PGA Tour event in Orlando.
Tiger and Charlie wore matching
peach-coloured shirts and black trousers playing alongside Justin Thomas and
his dad Mike at the tournament, which features 19 father-son pairs and the
father-daughter team of Nelly Korda and her dad Petr.
Team Woods finished tied for fifth place,
three strokes behind leaders Team Cink going into Sunday's second and final
round.
"It was awesome," a smiling Woods
said after the round, where he and Charlie had 10 birdies.
"It was a boatload of fun for all of
us. Charlie and I had a great day playing with the Thomas family. It just
couldn't get any better than that."
Thomas said he was "blown away"
by Tiger's game.
"Some of the shots he was hitting and
the speed that he had was just awesome," he said.
The tournament marks Team Woods's second
time playing in the competition, having finished seventh last year.
Woods has said he is a long way from being
able to compete in a PGA Tour event after the one-car accident near Los Angeles
10 months ago nearly led to his leg being amputated.
He used a cart to get around the
Ritz-Carlton Golf Club and looked to have a slight limp when walking. He
grimaced in apparent discomfort after hitting a tee shot on the par-four 16th.
"Even though I had the chance to ride
the cart, I'm not in golf shape.
"Like anything, if you don't have to
endure it you start slowing down. It's nice to have a partner who can hit
drives like he did and make a few putts."
Woods, who endured four back surgeries and
multiple knee operations in his career before undergoing a back fusion
procedure in 2017, has not set a time frame to return to the PGA Tour but said
last month he would love to play in the British Open next July. read more
The 45-year-old American is tied with Sam
Snead for the most wins on the PGA Tour with 82, and his 15 major championships
puts him three shy of Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 major titles.
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