Woods returns to golf alongside son Charlie at PNC

Tiger Woods has confirmed that he will return to competitive golf at this week’s PNC Championship with his 12-year-old son, Charlie.

Ten months after his right leg was badly damaged, Woods has made speedy recovery after crashing his SUV on a winding road in Los Angeles in February this year.

Tiger and Charlie Woods celebrate at the 2020 PNC Championship (Credit: PGA Tour)

The PNC Championship is an unofficial event in which major champions play alongside a family member. It will be Woods’ first tournament appearance since the same event last year, when he and then-11-year-old Charlie tied for seventh.

While a true PGA Tour return is still a long way off, according to the 15-time major champion himself, Woods intends to ‘pick and choose a few events a year and…play around that.’, which is a similar route that Ben Hogan took following his near-death car accident in 1949.

Interest surrounding a possible Woods return was originally sparked when he was spotted on the driving range hitting 3-woods freely at the Hero World Challenge just a few weeks ago.

While the PNC Championship is a less demanding tournament than a fully-fledged full-field PGA Tour event, Woods’ return to tournament golf nevertheless comes much sooner than expected, especially considering there was a chance he may lose his right leg due to the damage caused by the crash.

While many questions remain around his PGA Tour return, Woods was guarded with his response.

“Playing tour golf and being prepared to play and trying to shoot scores against these best players on the toughest golf courses, that’s a totally different deal,” said Woods.

“I’m a long way away from that. Don’t expect me to be out there on the tour level for quite some time.”

Woods will tee it up again this year alongside good friend and defending champion, Justin Thomas, and his father Mike. New to the field will be World No.1, Nelly Korda, who will play alongside her father, Petr, who is a former pro tennis player and winner of the 1998 Australian Open.

Other notable teams include John Daly and Little John Daly, who finished second in 2018, Gary Player and his grandson, Jordan Player, Jim and Tanner Furyk and Nick Faldo and Matthew Faldo.