Tiger and Charlie Woods began the second round of the PNC Championship holding a share of the lead, which was quite the story in and of itself.
But that was quickly overshadowed by what happened on the par-3 4th hole on Sunday.
After helping his father make two birdies over the first three holes, Charlie stepped up to the tee box with a 7-iron in hand. The 15-year-old then flushed his tee shot, which went straight toward the flag.
“Really good contact,” said NBC Sports reporter Jim “Bones” MacKay on the broadcast.
“This is a great-looking shot if it’s the right number.”
Indeed it was. Charlie’s tee shot landed a couple of feet before the hole, took two bounces, and then dropped into the bottom of the cup.
At first, Charlie had no idea it had gone into the hole despite the massive roar from the gallery. But as soon as he realized what had just happened, Charlie grinned from ear to ear and stood there giving the ‘Jordan shrug.’ His father then celebrated by giving him an enormous bear hug, producing one of the most wholesome scenes of the year in golf.
“We heard it up on the green on the right and left, but we were totally unsure until the TV confirmed it. And we went nuts,” Tiger said after.
“I don’t know what we did, but we enjoyed it. It was an unbelievable moment. I was talking to [the Golf Channel’s Todd [Lewis] out there, and that two-hole stretch, that was his first eagle he ever made out there on 3, and then his first hole-in-one.”
Can you imagine making your first ever hole-in-one in competition at this event? On national television, no less?
“Number one. It’s not even close,” Charlie said when asked where this moment ranked in his young golf career.
“It was just a perfect 7-iron, little cut in there. Of course, I never got to see it go in. So that sucks. But that’s all right.”
Regardless, his ace is another reason why the PNC Championship means so much to everyone who plays: it’s all about family and having fun. And even though Team Woods fell just short of Bernhard Langer and his son Jason, they still could not stop smiling all day on Sunday.
Tiger even called it a “thrill of a lifetime,” which encompasses what this is all about.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
