Tiger Woods and Charlie Woods react on the third green during the first round of the PNC Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.How Charlie Woods saved the PNC ChampionshipGary Player, Lee Trevino and defending champion John Daly should thank Charlie Woods for saving their âmajor.âThis week marks the 25th playing of the PNC Championship, but this 36-hole team event, which pairs 20 winners of prestigious titles alongside a family member in a scramble competition, had just about run its course until Charlie got the golf itch.Donât believe me? This event wasnât played from 2009-2011 due to a lack of sponsorship and wasnât revived until IMG and Arnold Palmer convinced the good people at Pittsburgh-based PNC to breathe new life into it. The King played with grandson Will Wears in 2012, but then he passed the torch to Jack Nicklaus. Seeing The Golden Bear, who was usually paired with Lee Trevino, play 36 was worth the price of admission and carried TV ratings. But as Nicklaus neared his 80th birthday â he last played in 2018 with grandson G.T. â IMGâs Alastair Johnston sensed his âbabyâ had outgrown its britches. Heâd seen the same thing happen to the Skins Game, another event he helped bring into prominence as the once-proud king of Silly Season events.âOnce Tigerâs appetite for doing that went away and the money became so big that people didnât have to play in it to make money, it lost its appeal,â Johnston once explained of the demise of the Skins Game, which was last played in 2008.Tiger Woods and Charlie Woods react on the third green during the first round of the PNC Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando on December 19, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)Johnston remembers when the idea for the PNC Championship struck him. This was several years ago in the pre-cellphone days and he was at TPC Michigan, site of the 1994 Ford Senior Players Championship. There in the locker room were three major champions lined up at a bank of phones: Raymond Floyd, Dave Stockton and Nicklaus.âThey were all talking to their kids,â Johnston said. âIt was far more important how their kids were playing than how they were doing and I thought, âWouldnât it be great if we could create a tournament where the fathers and sons could play together?â âHis brainchild has exceeded his wildest expectations.âItâs the one event where nobody asks me about the prize money,â Johnston said. âThe waiting list is perpetual. I could easily have 40 (teams) â without a doubt.ââThe biggest bonus no one talks about of winning a major is getting to play in the father-son,â two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen said.And yet the event was headed for a certain death as the tournamentâs biggest draws began to age out. No offense, but Janzen and 2013 champ Stewart Cink and ageless wonder Bernhard Langer, a four-time champion, donât make golf fans push off their holiday shopping for another week to crowd around the TV.Thatâs when Johnston had his next bright idea. Over the years, he had stretched the rules so Palmer, whose four daughters didnât play golf competitively, could play with grandsons Sam Saunders and then Wears, Fuzzy Zoeller could play with daughter Gretchen, and Aaron Stewart, whose father, Payne, died in a plane crash, could play with Janzen and Paul Azinger. In 2017, Johnston added a new wrinkle: sons playing with fathers as Justin Leonard, the 1997 British Open champion, broke new ground playing with his dad, Larry. Jim Furyk and Matt Kuchar did the same a year later, which gave way to Justin Thomas, who won with dad Mike in 2020, and this yearâs rookie, Jordan Spieth, who is playing with dad, Shawn. (Someday soon, four-time major winner and current World No. 1 Rory McIlroy and his dad Gerry would make a fine pairing until daughter Poppy is old enough to play.)But the real salvation was Tiger and Charlie, who finished second as a team a year ago and are scheduled to play together this weekend at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando for the third time. It completed the hand-off from Arnold to Jack to Tiger as the top draw of the event. Some, including Padraig Harrington, would argue that Charlie is the bigger draw. As much as golf fans are desperate to see Tiger, who played just nine competitive rounds this year, it is watching the development of young Charlieâs game that is endlessly fascinating.âThis is the first tournament Iâve ever played in that Tiger Woods is playing in that heâs not the star of the show,â Harrington said.And other than the four majors, it seems to be the one tournament circled on Tigerâs schedule â and itâs not just the golf cart that he can use since the event is played under the rules of PGA Tour Champions. Even last year where Tigerâs injuries from his car accident werenât yet healed, he wouldnât deprive Charlie of playing in the PNC. Plantar fasciitis this year? It kept Tiger out of the Hero World Challenge, the unofficial event earlier this month he hosts, but itâs not going to prevent Tiger from enjoying what has become one of his favorite weeks of the year.âCharlie will just hit all the shots and Iâll just get the putts out of the hole,â Tiger said at the Hero World Challenge.Suddenly, the PNC has turned into must-see TV each December. Who couldâve seen this rebirth coming? Johnston, for one, always knew this day would come.âYou know what was the first thing I said to Tiger Woods when I saw him the week after he won the Masters in 1997?â Johnston said. âI told him, âThe good news is youâve now qualified for the Father-Son.â â
Tiger Woods and Charlie Woods react on the third green during the first round of the PNC Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club. How Charlie Woods saved the PNC ChampionshipGary Player, Lee Trevino and defending champion John Daly should thank Charlie Woods for saving their âmajor.â This week marks the 25th playing of the PNC Championship,…
