Three shots make Woods return memorable

ORLANDO, Florida (AP):

Except for riding in a cart instead of walking, Tiger Woods, at times, looked just like he did a year ago in the PNC Championship on Saturday. Just not very often.

“Two good shots – three – came off exactly how I wanted,” Woods said.

The fact he could play alongside 12-year-old son Charlie was enough of a success considering the injuries to his right leg from a car crash 10 months ago in Los Angeles. Woods has said doctors discussed amputation. For three months, he said he was immobilised in a makeshift hospital bed at his home in Florida.

Scramble format

He and Charlie combined for a 62 in the scramble format, tied for fifth, three shots behind Stewart and Reagan Cink.

What he got out of this remarkable return had more to do with camaraderie than competition.

“We had so much fun out there,” said Woods.

One of those shots that stood out to Woods was on the par-5 third hole, where he hit 4-iron from 220 yards that drew slight back towards the flag and settled 8 feet behind the hole. That was the shot he saw in his head and then in the air.

“That was just ridiculous,” Justin Thomas said. “I looked at him and as soon as he sat in the cart, he just kind of looked at me and smiled. And I knew exactly that’s the kind of shots that he hits when he’s healthy.”

Woods is healthy enough to play the PNC Championship, a popular year-end event for major champions and a family member. He’s just not healthy enough to be a regular golfer.

“I don’t have endurance. I haven’t played,” said Woods, whose last competition was the PNC Championship a year ago when he and his son finished seventh against a 20-team field.

“It’s tiring out there, so it was a slow day. But that’s something that I’m going to have to – if I want to compete out here at the tour level – I’m going to have to get the endurance back and hit thousands upon thousands of golf balls. Just takes time.”

Woods also mentioned the fairway metal he hit on to the green at the par-5 14th, and a 7-iron he smoked into the par-3 17th, unsure he could get there.

“It was one of my old shots,” Woods said.

Thomas would have picked another shot. He was determined that Woods, who turns 46 at the end of the month and still walks gingerly from the broken bones in right leg and ankle, not hit a drive past him. That changed on the 11th hole.

That big bounce

“I hit it pretty good and as soon as his ball took that big bounce we looked at each other and I was like, ‘If it’s going to happen, it’s going to be this one because I think it just launched.’ And yeah, that was a shot to the ego,” Thomas said with a grin.

Woods showed the effects of his injuries in the way he walked, laboured at times. The toughest walk belonged to Mike Thomas, the 62-year-old club professional with a bulging disc in his back that had him grimacing often.

“Definitely calling it a success both my dad and Tiger made it 18 holes,” Justin Thomas said.

The competitive side in Woods showed in how proud he was that his team managed to keep bogeys off their card for a third consecutive 62 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando.

Thomas and his father shot 60 and were one shot behind along with John Daly and his son. Vijay Singh and his son were another behind. Woods and son were among six teams at 62, which included the oldest player (Gary Player at 86) and youngest player (Karl Stenson, the 11-year-old son of Henrik Stenson) in the field.

But this network TV show was all about Woods, the biggest attraction in sport, especially now when scenes and reports from his February 23 car crash made it appear it would be a long time, if ever, that he could play at any tournament.