Tiger Woods walks 18 holes in PNC Championship pro-am

ORLANDO: The PNC Championship, a two-day team golf tournament that pairs major champions with a family member, allows competitors to use golf carts, unlike a typical PGA Tour event.

Yet in the event's pro-am Friday at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Fla., Tiger Woods took the opportunity to walk all 18 holes.

Woods' ability to walk the entire course opened some eyes, as he's said in the past that it is a greater obstacle for him at this point than hitting the shots he wants to hit.

Woods, who turns 49 this month, has not played more than a handful of events in a given PGA Tour season since a single-car crash in February 2021 nearly cost him his right leg. Friday was Woods' first time playing golf in public since the Open Championship last July, where he missed the cut. He has since undergone another back surgery, and he elected not to play earlier this month in his foundation's event in the Bahamas, the Hero World Challenge.

"Yeah, my leg is what it is. It's still here. It is what it is," Woods told reporters Friday. "But this year I struggled a lot with my back, and it's a lot better, but I still have a long way to go. ... The recovery has gotten to be the hardest part."

Woods was asked how close he was to not playing this weekend.

"I had moments," he said. "That was one of the reasons why I had the surgery done earlier, so that hopefully I could give myself the best chance to be with (son Charlie Woods) and be able to play. I'm not competitively good right now, but I just wanted to be able to have the experience again. This has always been one of the bigger highlights of the year for us as a family, and now we get to have that moment together again."

Without giving any indication of where he stood for the 2025 PGA Tour season, he added that the process of getting ready for competitive golf takes him months, "but it starts with each and every day."

"Unfortunately I've gone through this process a number of times," the 15-time major champion said. "It's frustrating. It's hard. But I have an amazing team, amazing support. But I have to do the little things on a daily basis and away from everybody."

The PNC Championship begins Saturday and concludes Sunday. Tiger and Charlie Woods were the runners-up in 2021 and tied for fifth last year, but they are still searching for their first win in the event.

“My leg is what it is. It´s still here,” said Woods, who turns 49 on December 30. “But this year I struggled a lot with my back and it´s a lot better, but I still have a long way to go.”

Woods was 60th at the Masters and missed the cut in the year´s other three majors, struggling to recover form between rounds. In his only other start this year, Woods withdrew after one round at the Genesis Invitational, the February event he hosts at Riviera. “The recovery has gotten to be the hardest part,” Woods said. “But over the course of rounds, weeks, months, it gets harder.”

Even getting his surgically repaired body ready to compete is difficult.

“Preparing for competitive play is different. That takes months, weeks,” Woods said. “But it starts with each and every day. You just do the little things correctly and they add up.

“It´s frustrating. It´s hard. I have an amazing team, amazing support. But I have to do the little things on a daily basis and away from everybody. It´s hard.”

Woods has been impressed with top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, who won nine times this year including a second Masters and Paris Olympic gold. It´s a domination unseen since Woods in his heyday.

“How he has handled the pressure and the expectations for he and his family, I think he´s doing an unbelievable job,” Woods said. “He´s just coming into his own. This is the fun part of watching him develop. This is going to be the start of an unbelievable year.”

Woods said a commonality in their success styles is avoiding errors.

“It´s not making that many mistakes,” Woods said. “Over the course of big events, lots of play at an elite level, not making mistakes adds up.”

Woods, who shares the record of 82 PGA Tour wins with Sam Snead, has a new rival to challenge him in Charlie Woods, who recently defeated his dad over nine holes.

“He beat me for nine holes. He has yet to beat me for 18 holes,” Woods said. “That day is coming. I´m just prolonging it as long as I possibly can.

“We have so much fun out there. It´ll be a fun atmosphere tomorrow and we´re just going to have a blast.”