Tiger and Charlie Woods paired at PNC Championship alongside Justin and Mike Thomas
2 Min Read
Written by Staff
Team Woods will commence its PNC Championship title quest at 12:02 p.m. ET Saturday, with Tiger and Charlie Woods paired alongside Justin and Mike Thomas for the first round at Ritz-Carlton GC in Orlando.
The Woods duo finished runner-up last year at the 36-hole scramble event, two strokes shy of John Daly and John Daly II for the event’s championship belts. Tiger and Charlie Woods teamed for 11 consecutive birdies in the final round, Nos. 6-17, en route to finishing 25-under total. Justin and Mike Thomas finished T3, three strokes off Team Daly’s record 27-under total; Team Thomas won the event’s 2020 iteration by a stroke over Vijay and Qass Singh.
A rivalry dynamic has emerged between Team Thomas and Team Woods, fueled by the friendship between Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas as well as the mentorship between Justin Thomas and Charlie Woods. Abundant banter was on display at last year’s PNC Championship, with the same certainly in store this week in central Florida.
“We have become so close that I think Charlie’s like Justin’s little brother he never had, and Justin has become the little brother I never had,” the elder Woods said at last year’s PNC Championship. “We are extremely close with the family and we do a lot of things together … we don’t want them wearing that belt again, so we are going to give it our best.”
Team Woods edged Team Thomas at last year’s PNC Championship, returning the favor from the year prior. The game within the game will be played in the same pairing for Saturday’s opening round of the 36-hole competition.
Jordan and Shawn Spieth will tee off at 11:23 a.m. ET Friday alongside Nelly and Petr Korda. This marks the first PNC Championship appearance for the father-son Spieth pairing; the father-daughter Korda tandem finished solo 12th at last year’s event.
Tiger and Charlie Woods are scheduled to tee off at 9 a.m. for Friday's pro-am. They are both listed on the pre-tournament interview schedule, as well, with their interview set for 2 p.m. This would be the first time that Charlie has appeared in an interview at the PNC Championship, as well as his first live press conference on record.
Tiger has handled the team's media obligations individually in their previous two PNC appearances. Father and son recently did their first joint interview, talking together on a highlight package for the Notah Begay Junior Challenge that ran last week on Golf Channel.