Tiger Woods has always been under the spotlight, but heading into Year 3 of the PNC Championship, he was fully aware he might not even be the main draw anymore.
Here’s the first question Woods fielded from reporters at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Fla., last week: Do you get the sense that you’re the second-most-watched person out here?
“Yeah, nothing wrong with that,” he said. “As long as the people are excited about coming out here and supporting us and supporting all the legends and the people who are in this event, it’s always special.”
The second part of Woods’ answer didn’t really address the question asked, but you get the picture. The golf world wants to know about Charlie Woods.
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It’s a complicated topic, too. Some people love watching the kid and seeing him interact with his dad. Others aren’t a fan of the extra media coverage just because of his last name. But this article isn’t going to dive into that; we are instead just going to talk about how anyone — regardless of who their mom or dad is — prepares to play golf in front of thousands of fans and millions more on TV screens.
It can’t be easy, right?
Charlie was asked that on Sunday, after he teamed with his dad to tie for 8th out of 20 teams.
“I think just getting used to it,” he said. “The first year was surprising, and then I just knew what to expect the next two years.”
This is where Dad chimed in with some important context.
“The first year couldn’t have been better for him to participate at this level because it was a Covid year,” Tiger said. “So for him to be inside the ropes the very first time during Covid, we didn’t have any fans out here. But it was the first time he got to experience it being inside the ropes at this level seeing the legends of the game hit golf balls and watch Gary Player and Lee Trevino hitting golf balls and rewind the clock and see what I grew up watching. He got to experience that without the fans, which was a great way for him to be introduced to this and then last year was more of an introduction than today, and this week, and here we are.”
As for any tips his dad offered?
“It’s a lot of just staying in your own mind and just kind of focusing on what you’re doing and nothing else,” Charlie said. “Just hole-by-hole.”