Was Tiger Woods’ PNC Championship day encouraging? Or not so much?

Saturday saw round one of the year’s fifth major — also doing business as the PNC Championship — and it offered its usual collection of ‘feels’ that come thanks to its pro-relative format. We get a bit of a peek behind the curtain, so to say. There’s Bernhard Langer — and his son! There’s Annika Sorenstam — and her son! There’s Nelly Korda — and her dad! There’s Tiger Woods — and his son! Yeah, they’re at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, too, for the fifth-straight year, and seeing the 15-time major winner play for the first time since the Open Championship in July brings its own thoughts — especially since Team Woods is tied for the lead. 

So, we’ve convened GOLF staffers Claire Rogers and Nick Piastowski to review the play. Claire is on the grounds in sunny Orlando. Nick is at his home in the wintery Northeast.  

Nick Piastowski (@nickpia): Hi, Claire! Looks a little cooler today, but still golf weather — so yeah, I’m jealous! What’s the vibe like down there?

Claire Rogers (@kclairerogers): The vibe is GREAT. The weather is perfect, and a LOT of people came out to see Team Woods. From the range to the 18th green, there’s a ton of excitement at the course from the early morning until the last putt drops. The fans and players are all equally happy to be here.

Nick: Yeah, I totally got that feel from TV. On 1 for Woods and Woods, it looked like fans were five- or six-deep — for about 200 yards down the fairway. The Friday pro-am looked pretty great, too — I especially enjoyed Padraig Harrington trying to add ball speed for Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis. It was funny — and strangely mesmerizing all at once. OK, let’s get into the golf — and one of the players from one of the three co-leading teams: Tiger. What’s your immediate takeaway after watching him today?

Claire: That he’s in full-on dad mode out here this week. He’s moving well and hitting some great shots, but he’s more focused on hanging out with his kids than anything else.

Nick: I’m seeing that. I just looked — between him and Charlie, they used the word “fun” in their post-round press conference six times. So maybe they are!  The thought I want to use is Woods looked in rhythm. The swing, the walk. Nothing forced. Balanced. The broadcast analysts said as much, too. That all being said, it’s not like the PNC is the Masters, or the Ritz-Carlton GC is Oakmont. Should we then be encouraged, discouraged, or just wait and see with Woods after today?

Claire: Encouraged! The course here is definitely flat, but it’s a long walk. I’m just checking my steps for the day, and I’m at 16,200 — and all I did was follow Tiger’s group. He’s done that two days in a row and has one more ahead of him. Last year, he used a cart and relied on Charlie to hit a lot of the drives. He hit every shot today.

Nick: I like the word encouraged, too. Why not? It’s Christmas, right? Drives down the middle are drives down the middle, and putts made are putts made. If anything, momentum does funny things. Then again, we’ve been hyped up like this before so … there’s still some wait and see, too. All right, let’s talk about his teammate. Charlie seemed dialed with the putter — though he was a bit hard on himself, it seemed. You hear any of that?

News

Claire: Charlie sunk a LOT of putts today. I didn’t hear too much around the greens, but he definitely talked to his golf ball after a few errant shots on the course. A few times, I heard him mumble “How does that go over there?”

Nick: Yeah, I feel you, Charlie. We all wonder that. My favorite Tiger-Charlie moment was the interaction on the tee on the par-3 17th, where Charlie dumped his tee shot into the water, then Tiger followed with a safe iron to the center of the green — then walked back and quickly tossed something toward his son’s chest. Good stuff.  Let’s go rapid fire-ish now. Best thing you’ve seen this week on the course with the golf?

Claire: Luke Leonard’s game. He’ll be a freshman at Villanova in the fall, and I don’t think I saw him hit a single bad shot today. His game is so, so consistent.

Nick: I’ll go John Daly hitting one range ball — and declaring himself good to go. Best/strangest/funniest thing you’ve seen this week, off the course? 

Claire: The Woods kids and Justin Leonard’s son are in school together, and they had a bunch of classmates and pals come down to watch the action this weekend. It was awesome to see how supportive they were (a handful of kids printed out signs of Luke Leonard’s face), and I think it kept all of the players and caddies inside the ropes feeling relaxed today.

Nick: For me, I’ll go with Daly again and the moment on Friday he had with Woods where he said they both enjoy three-letter places — Woods liked the g-y-m, and Daly liked the b-a-r. Best ‘awwwww’ family moment?

Claire: I saw Steve Stricker on the range with both of his daughters today and it was such a great moment to observe. The Leonard family also shared a big group hug after Justin and Luke finished their round today, which was really sweet. 

News

Nick: Every interview from Will McGee, Annika Sorenstam’s son, gets to me. We could all use some of that pep. All right, who wins this thing?

Claire: I think it’s going to be between Team Woods and Team Langer. If the putting goes well for Team Woods tomorrow, I can see them getting it done.

Nick: I like that. A win by Team Trevino — and the ensuing interviews — would be great, too. Last question — and your Scoop fans want to know — What’s the ice cream scene like down there? 

Claire: I haven’t had much in Orlando, but I’ve been in Florida for two weeks and have become a massive fan of Sloan’s ice cream. I went there with GOLF’s very own James Colgan on Tuesday evening!

Nick: Good to see Colgan doing something this week! I kid, I kid.