Tiger Woods, son Charlie, shoot 59 at PNC Championship, tied for lead entering final round

Tiger Woods will always move the needle in golf. No matter how many back surgeries he’s had over the years. And one of the greatest golfers of all-time is competing this weekend with his son, Charlie Woods, in the PNC Championship. And Tiger and his son managed to catch fire in the first day of the event, carding a 13-under 59. It puts them in a tie for first place in the event, with the final day coming on Sunday.

Team Woods is currently tied with Team Langer and Team Singh. Tiger and his son rattled off five straight birdies on the back nine to gain a share of the lead. Tiger Woods scheduled his sixth lower back surgery in the past 10 years to make sure that he had enough time to recover for the PNC Championship. He hit a number of good shots, including a wedge that he placed within inches of the par-4 seventh hole. But following the round, he made sure to let everyone know that he still has a lot of rust in his game.

Charlie Woods is currently a sophomore at Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, Florida. He hit a number of impressive shots on Saturday, including a nice bunker shot. His father noted that Charlie made most of the putts.

Team Woods opened their Saturday with three straight birdies.

Tiger Woods underwent another back surgery in September

It was the first competitive appearance for Tiger Woods since his back surgery in September. According to his Twitter page, Woods went micro decompression surgery of the lumbar spine for nerve impingement in his lower back. Dr. Sheeraz Qureshi of Hospital for Special Surgery in West Palm Beach performed the procedure and he deemed it successful.

LPGA legend Annika Sorenstam and her son Will McGee opened their round with seven straight birdies to take a share of the lead through eight holes.

Sorenstam is back in the competition for the third time, after she became the first woman to join the PNC Championship with her dad, Tom, in 2019. Gary Player, a former Grand Slam winner who turned 89 in November, capped off his first round with a birdie putt on the final hole.

The PNC Championship is a 36-hole event. The first and second round, on Saturday and Sunday, is played as a two-man scramble. Both players hit their tee shots, then the team chooses the better ball. From there, both players hit their next shot. That continues until they finish the hole. The lowest score after 36 holes wins. In the event of a playoff, scramble format will be played then, too.

The players on the winning team will split the $200,000 winner’s share of a $1.085 million prize purse.