As cameras followed Tiger Woods from the parking lot into the clubhouse Sunday morning at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, there was something a little different.
It’s a walk Woods has made hundreds of times and cameras have captured it hundreds of times, but just not like this. Not with a family member on the bag.
Many assumed if Woods was ever to arrive at a tournament with one of his children in tow as a looper, it would be his son Charlie, his partner this week at the PNC Championship. But this week, it is Woods’ 16-year-old daughter Sam who has her pops’ Monster energy drink-branded stand bag slung over her shoulders as her boss gets set for the day, clad in red and black.
And as her dad was cracking lines from the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, a movie that came out 21 years before Sam was born, she couldn’t help but crack an enormous ear-to-ear smile.
That smile has been on display all week from the parking lot, to the driving range, to the first tee to the greens and all over Ritz-Carlton Golf Club. It hasn’t just been Sam either, but her brother Charlie and final round playing partners Steve and Izzi Stricker. First-round partners Justin and Mike Thomas too. It’s been all over the PNC Championship because that’s what this week is all about, the smiles and the fun.
Of course, the event also carries with it a purse for the professional partners of $1 million and here’s the breakdown of the payouts below.
PNC Championship payout info, winner’s share per team
Jack Hirsh is the Associate Equipment Editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.