Welcome back to the Monday Finish, where we hope you’re prepared to feign excitement when you open the most bizarre, useless golf gift you’ve ever imagined from your well-intentioned-but-golf-illiterate aunt and uncle. To the news!
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GOLF STUFF I LIKE
Charlie’s ace — and the other ace, too.
If you’ve made your way to this website it’s likely you’ve already seen Charlie Woods‘ hole-in-one from Sunday at the PNC Championship, but even a day later it seems surreal. The most famous kid in golf plays two rounds (that’s eight par-3s) on TV per year and makes an ace on one of ’em?! The father-and-son Woods tandem, plus Sam the caddie, get to celebrate Charlie’s first hole-in-one all dressed in family colors while in contention on Sunday? Amazing.
They wound up losing in a playoff to Bernhard and Jason, the members of Team Langer, who matched the Woods’ Sunday 57 (both days are a two-man scramble) but still left the course beaming. Asked to rank the day in his all-time golfing memories, Charlie didn’t hesitate. “No. 1. It’s not even close,” he said. Tiger called it “the thrill of a lifetime.” It was golf’s feel-good family moment for the holidays.
But I’d like to steer a little shine in the direction of Paddy Harrington. No, not Padraig, whose parenting advice we parroted in this column just last week. But Paddy, his son, who made the second ace of the day just minutes after Charlie’s.
In this case, too, the father may have been even more excited than the son.
“I was too excited. You couldn’t have talked to me. I was gone,” he said. “This is a great event, and all of it is great, and we try and play well — but that was sheer joy.”
Joy and family leading into the holiday season? That’s golf stuff I like.
WINNERS
Who won the week?
Bernhard and Jason Langer won the PNC Championship; the win was Bernhard’s record-setting sixth and Jason’s record-setting fourth. Jason is a 25-year-old investment banker who plays golf sparingly, which means that some of you, my dear readers, are just one legendary father away from a PNC Championship, too.
John Parry won the Afrasia Bank Mauritius Open, the self-described “most beautiful week” in golf, thanks to four birdies and an eagle in his final seven holes. The Englishman won on the DP World Tour in his 2010 rookie season — but he hadn’t won since. He’s up to No. 102 in the world and starts 2025 at No. 1 on the tour’s order of merit.
Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler threw down a commanding victory over Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in the dark, chilly, but still intriguing Showdown, earning a whole bunch of bitcoin in the process.
And [digs deeper] Veer Ahlawat won the Tata Steel Tour Championship on the Professional Golf Tour of India, closing with 64 to win the tour finale and work his way back inside the top 500 in the world in the process.
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NOT-WINNERS
A few golfers who didn’t win but still kinda won.
At the PNC, Tiger and Charlie shot a record-setting 59-57, which was somehow not good enough. I know it’s a short course, a scramble and a relatively gentle setup. But I’m still blown away by these scores.
Behind the Langer-Woods tie at at 27 under was a three-way tie for third at 23 under between Team Duval, Team Harrington and Team Singh. Crowded in the bronze medal spot!
In Africa, heralded amateur Christo Lamprecht finished T2, the best result of his young pro career. He’s up to No. 476 in the world and I think it’s safe to bet that number will be even lower by the end of 2025.
And longtime fan favorite Eddie Pepperell, who lost his card at the end of the 2024 DP World Tour season, led through 54 holes in Mauritius before stumbling to a Sunday 74. His T9 finish was still his best in over a year.
SHORT HITTERS
Five takes from Fred Couples.
A fun, wide-ranging Fred Couples pre-tournament press conference included the following:
On his first PNC appearance with his stepson Hunter: “I’ve seen enough of it that every pro that walks off the 18th green says it was the greatest week of their lives. And if I don’t say that, somebody better come and shoot me.”
On texting with Tiger pre-PNC: “He said, Dude, I’m so excited for you. It’s just the hang that you’re going to love. And I already know all that, but then he said, You want to play? I said, No, we are not playing with you and Charlie. That is not going to happen.”
On watching The Showdown: “I got a text from someone: ‘Are you watching this?’ Actually from Joe LaCava. I don’t even need to say what the text was about. But then when I turned it on, they were on, I think, the 5th hole. It was pitch dark and freezing. Now, I don’t know why they would do that, to play a match that big … y’know, it was just weird.”
On whether the PGA Tour needs better entertainers: “When you play well, you’ve got to give the people more than they expect. And when you play poorly, that’s when it becomes you don’t want to do anything stupid … we have to get people to love the golf again.”
On PGA Tour changes: “I love watching it. I don’t have any problems with smaller fields, more money. I don’t think there’s any problem with that at all.
“I think the Tour is being carried by the best players. And if you’re not one of the best players at the moment, you can be. But it shouldn’t just be easy. They want it all easy if you’re 75th to 130th on the money list. And every time you go to a tournament, all the signs when you drive in are all of six or eight or 10 guys. And I think they run the Tour.”
ONE SWING THOUGHT
Will McGee get philosophical.
This one isn’t a swing thought so much as a life thought from Annika Sorenstam‘s son Will McGee, who loves the PNC Championship as much as anybody. The 13-year-old lefty was asked pre-tournament how excited he felt for the weekend and, well…
“I look forward to this week every year. It’s like, I’m happy that it’s right here, but it’s also sad because in a few days it’s already gone.”
Sigh.
ONE BIG QUESTION
What did we learn about Tiger?
This time every year for a decade-plus we try to read the tea leaves and project forward on Tiger Woods‘ body, his health, his potential upcoming schedule. When he skipped the Hero World Challenge a couple weeks ago that seemed like a bad sign. But what’d we learn this week?
Mostly it was encouraging. Woods walked 18 holes three days in a row. His ball speed numbers were promising. He hit a bunch of good shots, and he made a bunch of clutch putts, and while it’s tough to compare this to the pressure of like, a major championship, there’s a completely different type of pressure that comes from not wanting to disappoint your teenage son.
But Woods was also very intentional about managing expectations. He said he was rusty. He said the cold weather bothered him. He said he was nowhere close to tournament-ready. He dismissed his good shots as “I’m a good scramble partner.” It’s clear that Woods doesn’t want anyone to think he’ll be in the mix at Augusta, say.
Still, he can’t quit the idea. And it’s clear how hard he’s still working towards that goal.
“It’s training, each and every day, doing the little things and keep progressing, and I’ll keep progressing forward into next year,” he said. So what did we learn? That everything is still on the table.
ONE THING TO WATCH
Xander.
Our latest guest on Warming Up: The World No. 2 and world’s newest two-time major champ, Xander Schauffele. Want to know what it’s like to hang with Xander? Here’s an hour on the range talking hooks, fades, mindset, process, winning, Augusta National, Tiger, his father Stefan and much, much more. Watch here — or bookmark for later!
NEWS FROM SEATTLE
Monday Finish HQ.
Our Monday Finish staff (that’s me) has escaped to southern California for the week, where we have a jam-packed few days of food, family, football, festivities — and even a proper 18 holes planned for 12/26. Merry Christmas, happy holidays and much love from the Monday Finish to all of you. It’s a real gift to have you here. Especially if you’ve made it to the end.
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Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at dylan_dethier@golf.com.
