Tiger and Charlie Woods co-lead PNC. Shocked? You should not have been

The final time Tiger Woods held a share of a first-round lead in knowledgeable golf match was greater than 5 years in the past. The setting: the 2019 Zozo Championship in Chiba, Japan, the place Woods and Gary Woodland shot matching 64s to co-lead after 18 holes. Woods would go on to win by three that week, claiming his 82nd PGA Tour title, which tied him with Sam Snead atop the Tour’s all-time wins checklist.

Nobody would or ought to mistake the PNC Championship — a PGA Tour Champions-sanctioned occasion that pits 20 parent-child groups in a 36-hole scramble — for a full-field 72-hole PGA Tour occasion just like the Zozo, however, man, solely probably the most grizzled cynic couldn’t be moved by seeing WOODS again atop a leaderboard, because it was Saturday on the PNC.

When the mud settled at Ritz-Carlton Golf Membership in Orlando, Tiger and his 15-year-old son, Charlie, had made 12 birdies and never a single bogey or worse. Their ensuing 59 has them in pole place on the midway level, knotted with groups Langer and Singh, with the Lehmans and Harringtons nipping at their heels.

There was motive to imagine the Woods boys, resplendent of their matching Solar Day Purple gear, wouldn’t be aggressive this week. For one, Tiger remains to be recovering from a September again surgical procedure — his sixth — and nonetheless has “an extended option to go,” he mentioned Friday. He added, ‘I’m not going to really feel what I’m used to feeling. The restoration has gotten to be the toughest half. However over the course of rounds, weeks, months, it will get tougher.’” Woods’ proper leg, which he badly injured in a 2021 automobile wreck, additionally stays a major impairment. Enjoying 18 holes is one factor, strolling 18 is kind of one other.

There’s additionally the questionable state of Woods’ recreation, which he described to Golf Channel Friday as “very rusty,” including, “I don’t have my feels and my trajectory is off.”

Right here’s the factor, although: There was additionally motive to imagine the Woods boys would be aggressive this week, and never simply because Tiger is likely one of the fiercest rivals to ever stalk the earth, the state of his recreation be damned. For one, Tiger and Charlie aren’t precisely staring down Scottie, Rory and Bryson this week. Their opponents embody the likes of 13-year-old Will McGee (Annika Sorenstam’s son) and 89-year-old Gary Participant; Tiger and Charlie even have solely 19 groups to beat, and the scramble format permits Tiger, ought to he really feel the necessity, to take off a swing and there.

Workforce Woods additionally has one thing else going for it: Charlie, who’s enjoying in his fifth PNC this week, is a 12 months older and wiser than he was in December 2023. A 12 months higher, too. Charlie is a sophomore on the Benjamin College, in South Florida, the place he performs on the golf group alongside Justin Leonard’s son, Luke. A 12 months in the past, the group received the state title. This 12 months, Charlie lowered his stroke common by 4 photographs, to 70.75, his coach, Toby Harbeck, instructed me the opposite day. Harbeck mentioned that if something holds Charlie again, it’s his decision-making on the course, however he performs with a drive and depth proper out of his previous man’s playbook. Charlie burns to win.

On Saturday, Charlie and his father made it look straightforward, although neither participant appeared awed by their performances. “Felt fairly good,” Charlie mentioned. “I didn’t hit it nice, however Dad saved me on a few them and I rolled them in.”

Unsurprisingly, Tiger was additionally fast to provide his enjoying associate credit score. “We’re making an attempt to drag off every shot for one another, and to ham-and-egg, and I believe we did that nice just about your entire day,” Tiger mentioned. “And Charlie made just about many of the putts.”

Tiger reiterated that his personal recreation is “rusty,” however there was no less than one extremely encouraging signal: Tiger walked all 18 holes, simply as he’d executed in Friday’s observe spherical. He’s permitted to make use of a cart on the PNC however elected to not. Should you’re in search of indicators that his restoration is progressing, certainly this improvement qualifies, even when the flat Ritz-Carlton structure isn’t precisely Augusta Nationwide.

“Getting ready for aggressive play is completely different,” Tiger mentioned Friday. “That takes months, weeks. Nevertheless it begins with every day. You simply do the little issues accurately, they usually add up. From the second you stand up, simply do all of the little issues, the mundane, the issues it’s a must to do.”

If we all know one factor about Tiger, he doesn’t take these little issues frivolously. The identical shall be true of how he prepares for Sunday’s second and remaining spherical on the PNC. Tiger has been saying all week that he’s simply right here to have enjoyable, and Charlie echoed an analogous sentiment after his spherical Saturday. However make no mistake, the Woods’ additionally traveled as much as Orlando to win. And now that they’re properly positioned to take action, the aggressive juices are flowing. The nerves are there, too. Tiger mentioned he felt butterflies on the primary tee Saturday.

Towards the top of he and Charlie’s post-round press scrum, Tiger was requested, now that and his son are deep within the hunt, whether or not his competitiveness would kick in.

Anybody who has even a passing information of Tiger’s method to the sport knew precisely how he’d reply, however, gosh, in any case these years of off- and on-course struggles, it felt good to listen to him say it anyway.

“It’s all the time there,” Tiger mentioned.