Tiger, ‘cub’ on the prowl at father-son tournament
LOS ANGELES: Tiger Woods and 11-year-old Charlie will team-up in the father-son PNC Championship in December, the golf superstar confirmed this week.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am to be playing with Charlie in our first official tournament together,” Woods, a 15-time major champion, said. “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.”
The tournament will be held at the Ritz-carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, December 19-20.
It features 20 major championship winners competing as a team alongside a family member.
Woods has largely kept his children, Charlie and 13-year-old daughter Sam, out of the public eye, although both were on hand when he won the 2019 Masters for his first major title in more than a decade.
Woods finished the coronavirus pandemicdelayed 2020 Masters this month in deflating style, with a final-round 76 that included a 10 on the par-three 12th -- followed by five birdies in his last six holes.
Teaming up with Charlie in the PNC Championship gives him a chance to compete one more time in 2020, a year that has seen his unofficial World Challenge in the Bahamas cancelled because of the pandemic.
No fans will be allowed at the Florida tournament, but it will be televised in the United States by NBC.
German veteran Bernhard Langer and his son, Jason, will return to defend the title they won last year.
American Justin Thomas will make his debut alongside his father, Mike. LPGA great Annika Sorenstam of Sweden will also play with her dad.
Other major champions who will tee it up include Greg Norman, Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and John Daly.
VILLEGAS, WALLACE SHARE LEAD: Camilo Villegas birdied his final hole to grab a share of the first-round lead in the US PGA Tour RSM Classic alongside Mat Wallace, who rammed in a 30-foot par-saving put at 18 for his piece of the lead.
Villegas and Wallace both played the par-70 Seaside Course at Sea Island, Georgia, one of two in use along with the par-72 Plantation Course over the first two rounds before those who make the cut return to the Seaside layout for the weekend.
Colombia’s Villegas fired six birdies without a bogey, opening with a seven-foot birdie at the 10th. He added a six-footer at the 15th to launch a run of three straight birdies that included a 28-footer at 16 and a 14-footer at 17.
Rory Sabbatini, Peter Malnati, Cameron Tringale, Adam Long, Paton Kizzire, Robert Streb, Keegan Bradley and Doug Ghim were all a stroke back on five-under.
POPOV SETS THE PACE: Sophia Popov rolled in five straight birdies on the front nine for a career best 18-hole score of 64 and a two-stroke lead ater the first round of the lpga Tour’s inaugural Pelican Women’s Open.
She finished with six birdies and a 29 on the front nine at the Pelican Golf Club in Tampa, Florida.
Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa was alone in second ater a four-under 66 while South Korea’s Kim Sei-young and American Ally Mcdonald were tied for third, three strokes back of Popov.
Canadians Brooke Henderson, who is seeking her 10th lpga title, and Alena Sharp headlined a group of eight golfers a stroke back at two-under 68.