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      Tiger Woods Mixes Golf and Family Once Again

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTiger Woods Mixes Golf and Family Once AgainNormally Woods tries to keep his private life separate from his career, but playing with his son Charlie in the PNC Championship was an emotional father-son bonding moment.“I’m just making sure Charlie has the time of his life,” Tiger Woods said Saturday, referring to his 11-year-old son. Credit…Mike Ehrmann/Getty ImagesDec. 20, 2020Updated 5:38 p.m. ETORLANDO, Fla. — As he does with the accessories in his golf bag, Tiger Woods neatly arranges his life in tidy compartments. His life as a high-profile golfer goes in one slot, his family goes in another and, like his favored chunky peanut butter and banana sandwiches and the rest of his luggage, he’d prefer to keep it all separated.When Woods made an exception this week, teaming up with his 11-year-old son, Charlie, at the PNC Championship, the results were perhaps predictably distinct.Charlie had a blast and Woods was a nervous wreck.The dynamic duo, as they were described by breathless television announcers, finished seventh at 20-under, five strokes behind the winning team of Justin Thomas and his father, Mike, who were grouped with the Woodses in the first round.But as far as Tiger Woods was concerned, this was one event where success was all about the details, not the digits.“I’m just making sure Charlie has the time of his life,” he said on Saturday.Woods’s father, Earl, who died in 2006, possessed a pride in his child’s precociousness with a golf club that led to Woods, 44, making his first television appearances and submitting to his first interviews before he started kindergarten.Because of Woods’s accomplishments, which include 15 major titles, Charlie has also grown up in the spotlight, widely photographed and gawked at since birth. Over the past year, as his interests have shifted from soccer to golf, his swing has been scrutinized on the internet as if it contained the meaning of life.“This is a different world that we live in now,” Woods conceded. “Everyone has a phone, everyone has an opportunity to video, he’s been out there.”But it’s one thing to exist in a fishbowl and quite another to be dropped into the shark tank of a 36-hole televised competition featuring 20 teams in which major winners or Players champions are paired with family members in a scramble format.With Tiger and his cub in the mix, the low-key event became a major production, eclipsing the L.P.G.A.’s tour championship, held roughly 200 miles — and a distant universe of hype — away and won by the women’s world No. 1, Jin Young Ko. More than 200 people and multiple television cameras were gathered around the first tee to watch Charlie’s opening shot Saturday.Charlie Woods, playing from forward tees set up for him and octogenarians Gary Player and Lee Trevino, split the fairway with most of his drives and often placed his approaches inside his father’s efforts.Credit…Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press“A lot of people are trying to use him to build up, or write or talk about things,” Woods said. “Just making sure he’s able to have fun playing the game of golf.”Woods insisted that Charlie be excused from media interviews throughout the week. When he met with reporters, Tiger Woods’s usual facility with words escaped him. Many of his thoughts trailed off.“I’m trying to make sure Charlie has the right environment, that he’s sheltered and away from this,” Woods said Saturday while addressing a small group of reporters. “I do all of this so he can practice and play and enjoy the golf side of it.”On one hole during the first round, Woods spoke with Justin Thomas about how excruciating it was to want so badly for Charlie to play well but to be helpless to do anything but watch.Tiger Woods need not have fretted. Charlie, playing from forward tees set up for him and the octogenarians Gary Player, 85, and Lee Trevino, 81, split the fairway with most of his drives and often placed his approaches inside his father’s efforts.The opening round featured Charlie’s first-ever eagle on a par-5, which he took in stride until his excited dad squeezed a bashful smile out of him with a bear hug.“He hit some of the most incredible golf shots,” Woods said.In introducing the golf world to his son, Woods revealed the man behind the golfing machine. Woods, an 82-time PGA Tour winner who says he competes to win, repeatedly used the word “perfect” on Saturday to describe a round that ended with the Woodses trailing by four strokes.Woods can bore holes in his competitors’ games with a glare, but a few times over the weekend his eyes pooled with emotion as he talked about the father-and-son bonding opportunity the tournament provided.From his mannerisms to his mechanics, Charlie came across as a miniature version of his father. He seemed comfortable in the company of adults and well-schooled in golf’s etiquette, walking to every tee box with the club he was going to use in one hand and his teed ball in the other. He stayed out of the way when it wasn’t his turn and wasted no time hitting once over the ball.Tiger Woods, who said he constantly emphasizes having fun on the course and being “respectful,” beamed at the mention of Charlie’s good manners and said he had to share any credit with his ex-wife, Elin Nordegren, who showed up Sunday with their daughter Sam to watch Charlie play.Neither Thomas nor Woods expressed surprise at the quality shots that Charlie consistently produced. They’d seen them all when they practiced and played alongside him during the months when the tour was shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.“I knew he was going to wow a lot of people,” Thomas said, adding, “The kid’s a gamer, he’s a grinder, he’s competitive.”Every afternoon when he was finished playing 18 holes, Charlie made a beeline for the range to hit more balls. During one post-round session, the children of another major winner were on the range not far from him. As they twirled and tossed their clubs like they were batons and cried out to get their parents’ attention, Charlie was a few yards away, quietly and methodically working his way through a bag of balls.The retired L.P.G.A. star Annika Sorenstam, a 10-time major winner, noticed that her 9-year-old son seemed enamored of Charlie and more enthusiastic about the game after watching him play.“When you see somebody your age and your size do what Charlie’s doing, it’s a little more inspiring to see what you can do,” Sorenstam said.Trevino crossed paths with Woods before the first round. “Now you know how your father felt,” he said he told him.Woods’s voice grew thick. “It’s unbelievable,” he replied.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Watching Tiger Woods Play an Often-Hidden Role: Dad

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTiger Woods, Playing Partner and ParentWatching Woods and his son, Charlie, on the golf course offers a rare window into a side of Woods fans never see: dad.Tiger Woods, right, and his son, Charlie, will play in a televised father-son event this weekend.Credit…Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressDec. 18, 2020ORLANDO, Fla. — The kid, like others of his generation, had never seen Tiger Woods win a major. He had no clue how cool golf could be.And then his father unexpectedly won the 2019 Masters. That’s when the game got a hold on Woods’s son, Charlie, 11, almost as soon as Woods swept him up in his arms behind Augusta National Golf Club’s 18th green.“It was casual before then,” Woods’s caddie, Joe LaCava said, referring to Charlie’s interest in golf. “Now it’s intense — in a good way.”Charlie Woods’s deeper embrace of golf has afforded the public a rare view this weekend of another side of his famous father, one that Tiger Woods usually chooses to keep out of sight of the prying public: the devoted dad.Woods, 44, and his son will make their debut Saturday in the PNC Championship, a 36-hole best-ball format featuring 20 teams of prominent past champions and their family members. On a chilly Thursday at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Grande Lakes, where the tournament is taking place, the Woodses warmed up with an 18-hole pro-am that was memorable for Charlie’s approach-shot darts and Woods’s paternal pride.“It’s so much fun for me to see him enjoying the game,” Woods said. “That’s the whole idea. Enjoy hitting shots and creating those shots.”Golf has come full circle for Woods, who forged a deep connection with his father, Earl, through the game. As Earl did with Tiger, Woods exposed Charlie to the game early. At 6, Charlie had a swing that Woods said he envied.Charlie moves his neck to work out the cricks the way his father does. He shakes his water bottle, minus the added electrolyte powders, just like his father. He stuffs his hands in his pockets when he is cold like his father. And when he is playing with his father at home, he reacts to good shots just like he does, by twirling his club.But Charlie is not a sawed-down version of Woods. Unlike his father, who competed in a putting contest with Bob Hope on “The Mike Douglas Show” when he was a toddler and had been profiled in Golf Digest and Ebony magazine by the time he was 6, Charlie has had a much more low-key childhood.He dabbled in golf but initially seemed more interested, as is his older sister, Sam, in soccer. That was fine by Woods, who said Thursday, “Whatever he decides to do, as long as he has a passion for it, I’m happy.”Until this week, his children have made infrequent appearances in the glare of his spotlight. Sam, 13, hadn’t planned on attending the final round of the 2019 Masters, showing up only after her club soccer team failed to advance to a tournament final scheduled for the same day, and Woods said that Charlie came only because his sister was there.After he won, Woods said, they spent the short flight home fighting over who got to wear the green jacket. He was gratified by their enthusiasm.Woods has spoken often of how he thought his children were reluctant to commit to golf because they associated the sport with the pain it has caused him, not just his physical struggles but perhaps also his arrest with painkillers in his system in 2017 after a risky back surgery. The operation had been undertaken, Woods said at the time, to improve his quality of life with his children, not prolong his career, which he thought was over.Woods’s voice and expressions always soften when he speaks of his children. They are the one topic that can reliably engender a smile that reaches his eyes.“So excited that we’re able to have these moments,” he said Thursday.“My dad never coached me,” Tiger Woods said. “It was all about feels and being there, being present, being with me. He did that and I’m doing it the same way with Charlie.”Credit…Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressTo watch Woods and his son on the golf course is to be granted a porthole into Woods’s parenting. Tournament officials have added forward tee boxes to accommodate Charlie, the youngest competitor in the tournament’s history. On the ninth hole, Woods stood behind Charlie, saying nothing until after he had hit an errant drive and looked imploringly at his father, who pointed out that the hitting strip was on a slight slope so he had to adjust his setup to account for that.“My dad never coached me,” Woods said. “It was all about feels and being there, being present, being with me. He did that and I’m doing it the same way with Charlie.”On the same hole, Woods’s son asked him why he had used his 9-iron for a 113-yard approach. Woods explained that it was cold and windy so he decided to go with that club and take a little off his swing.“He picks up on everything,” LaCava said. “He doesn’t just say, ‘Good shot, dad.’”To watch Woods and his son on the golf course is to be granted a porthole into Woods’s parenting.Credit…Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated PressWoods and his son played each nine with a different set of amateurs. At the ninth and 18th holes, Charlie took off his billed cap to shake hands with his playing partners. He was polite and attentive and seemed unfazed by all the adults, including a few with their small children in tow, who cheered his every shot.“It’s so cool for me to see him enjoy the sport and feeling the shots and hitting it as solid as he is hitting it,” Woods said.As the lead producer of NBC’s golf coverage, Tommy Roy has grown accustomed to seeing Woods on the 120 screens he monitors during a telecast. But playing the first nine Thursday in the same group as Woods, Roy saw him from a new angle.“It’s really cool, I have to say, to see him as a dad,” Roy said.Whether Woods was standing behind his son studying his form and the flight of his ball or leaning down to answer a question, the result was the same. Woods described them as “bonding moments.”Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, younger stars who have gotten to know Woods well over the past few years, each described him as a great father. But until this week, people drawn to Woods, the performer, had no idea really what he looked like as a parent.On every hole, after the group putted out, Woods stuck a tee in the ground and engaged Charlie in contests to see whose putt or chip came closest to it. On the 18th hole, as Woods and his son walked side by side down the fairway, pulling roughly two dozen spectators along, one man in the crowd turned to another and said, “I’m not even a big fan, but I’m enjoying this. It’s pretty cool.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More