Tiger’s kid in son- shine state
The guy with a swoosh on his shirt and a Tiger head cover on his driver looked pretty good.
So did Tiger Woods.
Charlie Woods, the 11- year- old son of the 15- time major champion, made his national TV debut Saturday in the PNC Championship in Orlando, Florida. And, according to his dad, he played just like he does at home.
Never mind that he had some 250 people following along, more than his dad had watching him at the Masters. Charlie confidently twirled his club before shots, quickly picked up the tee on his drives and even pumped his fist on the par5 third hole with a 3- wood into 3 feet for eagle.
They finished the scramble format at 10- under 62, four shots behind Matt Kuchar and son Cameron.
“I don’t really care about my game,” Woods said. “I’m just making sure that Charlie has the time of his life. And he’s doing that.”
Charlie Woods is the youngest to play in this 36- hole event that began in 1995 for major champions and their sons, and now includes all family members. He started to play in a few junior events and had no qualms about playing before a crowd or the cameras.
A TV camera was positioned some 15 feet away to the right of Charlie on the opening tee at the Ritz- Carlton Club at Grande Lakes, and he was a little quick with his swing, pulling it to the left. They used his father’s tee shot and wedge into 2 feet — Charlie made the birdie putt.
That was the last time Team Woods used Tiger’s tee shot on a long hole until No. 15. It helped that Charlie was able to use a forward tee, 100 yards ahead of the PGA Tour players on some holes.
Woods was not surprised from what he has seen at home. This was different — a tournament with pros, a scorecard that had to be signed, a TV audience. But it looked the same.
‘‘ A lot of the shots he hit,’’ Woods said, ‘‘ I’ve seen them back home at the Medalist this entire year. The junior events he played in, he hit a lot of these. It was a matter of stringing these out for 3 ½ hours. It’s a totally different deal.”