Tiger Woods and his son Charlie finish 2nd at PNC Championship
By Alaa Elassar and Theresa Waldrop, CNN
Tiger Woods and his son Charlie blazed their way to a second place finish at the PNC Championship, Woods‘ first time competing on a golf course since a car crash that crushed his leg in February.
Woods competed with his 12-year-old son in the $1 million PNC Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando, Grande Lakes in Florida, this weekend. The tournament was a two person, 36-hole competition partnering champions with their family members.
The tournament was won by the team of John Daly and his son John Daly II, who finished at 27 under par, two strokes ahead of the Woods.
The pair, known for their similar mannerisms from their swing to their celebrations, shot 15 under par Sunday and at one point, birdied 11 consecutive holes. The Woods duo finished seventh last year.
“The competitive juices, they’re never going to go away,” Woods, 45, said after his second place finish. “This is my environment, this is what I’ve done my entire life. I’m just so thankful to have this opportunity to do it again.”
A big crowd surrounded the legend as he teed off Saturday, cheering him on and welcoming him back after he was seriously injured when the Genesis SUV he was driving veered off the road in February.
Woods, the winner of 82 PGA Tour titles, including 15 major championships, said he still has the hands and the feel for the game, but endurance is the biggest issue since the wreck that caused multiple fractures to his right leg.
“Unfortunately, this year has been very hard, and I hadn’t been able to play at all until, I think this might be my second or third round this year. So it has been a long year.”
Woods used a golf cart to get around the course during the weekend, which no golfer is allowed to do on the PGA Tour.
“I’m a long way away from playing tournament golf,” Woods said. “This is hit, hop in a cart.”
The golf superstar said after spending three months in bed, he worked every day to play again.
In an exclusive interview with Golf Digest last month, Woods said his days as a full-time golfer are over.
“Something that is realistic is playing the tour one day, never full time, ever again, but pick and choose, just like Mr. (Ben) Hogan did,” Woods told interviewer Henni Koyack.
“Pick and choose a few events a year and you play around that. You practice around that, and you gear yourself up for that. And you play. I think that’s how I’m going to have to play it from now on.”
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated Tiger Woods’ age. He is 45.
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CNN’s Kevin Dotson, Holden Perrelli, Andy Sholes, Patrick Sung and John Sinnott contributed to this report.
