Rangers director’s delight as Woods and son sign up to play in his PGA Tour event
Tiger Woods and his 11- yearold son Charlie are to play together in a PGA Tour event run by the former Rangers chairman Alastair Johnston.
Woods is making his debut in the P NCC ham pi on ship, where 20 major winners compete as a team with a family member. The tournament will take place at The Ritz-carlton Golf Club in Orlando from December 17-20.
The 15- time major winner said: “I can’t tell you how excited I am to be playing with Charlie in our first official tournament together.
“It’s been great watching him progress as a junior golfer and it will be incredible playing as a team together in the PNC Championship.”
Johnston, vice-chairman with sports management giants IMG, is the executive chairman of the tournament. As a former Florida neighbour of Woods’, he said he was delighted to have the former world No 1 on board.
“Having Tiger and his son in the field for the first time is a very special moment for the recently re-named PNC Championship,” said Johnston, who is still a non-executive director at Rangers as well as being a huge golf fan.
"Back in 1997, Tiger and I were next door neighbours at Isleworth. After his momentous victory at the Masters that year, when he returned home, I offered him my congratulations.
“However, I did not referenc eh is amazing per formance at Augusta but advised him that as a newly minted major champion, he had now qualified to participate in the Father/son Challenge!
“He was somewhat bemused at the time, but 23 years later, we will welcome him knowing very well that he will not be driven by nostalgia but will be on a mission to add to his commendable list of titles, but this time having the chance to share one with his son.”
Europe’s Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington is also in the field along with the likes of John Daly, Bernhard Langer, Gary Player, Greg Norman and Annika Sorenstam.
To qualify for the PNC Championship, players must have won a major championship or The Players Championship. Their partner must not hold a PGA Tour card.
Meanwhile, South Africa' s Wilco Nienaber powered his way into a share of the lead with the aid of a 439-yard drive on day one of the Joburg Open.
Nienaber fired an eagle, eight birdies and two bogeys in an opening eight-under-par 63 to join compatriot Shaun Norris at the top of the leaderboard.
Nienaber’s round included a birdie on the fourth hole after a tee shot of 439 yards on the downhill par five. There was more big hitting to come on his final hole of the day, the 20-year-old driving the green on the 381-yard ninth to set up a closing birdie.
Elsewhere, Denmark's Emily Pedersen completed a 'Saudi sweep' after victory in both the team and individual events in the Saudi Ladies Team International.
Pedersen, who won the Aramco Saudi Ladies International on Sunday, carded a final round of 67 to finish two shots ahead of Luna Sobron Galmes, Anne van Dam and Stephanie Kyriacou. That help ed Pedersen's group, which included Scotland's Michele Thomson and South Africa's Casandra Hall, to win the team event by a shot, with Hall making a decisive birdie on the par-five 18th.