Tiger Woods, for the first time since the 2024 Open Championship, is back playing a golf tournament this weekend. The PNC Championship is a duo event, and he's playing with his son, Charlie. It's also not an official PGA Tour event, but Woods is back in action nonetheless.
He had to skip the Hero World Challenge, of which he is the host, earlier this month as he continues to recover from the microdecompression surgery he had on his back. The fact that he's back and, according to reports, taking full swings and walking all the holes at the PNC is a good sign for his eventual recovery.
Woods stated recently that he wasn't quite tournament-ready and he didn't know what his frequency would be for 2025 appearances. At the PNC, though, he's not using a golf cart and he is swinging well according to Bob Harig.
The golfer previously said of the PNC Championship, which he played in last year, via ESPN:
"Playing together is something we look forward to and it's always more special when you're surrounded by friends and family."
Woods also noted that he is trying to get stronger as he prepares for 2025. The PNC Championship is the first step towards that goal.
"Whether my commitment going forward is once a month, yeah, I could say that all over again. But I truly don't know. I'm just trying to rehab and still get stronger and better and feel better, really give myself the best chance I can going into next year."
The Woods duo has competed in this tournament every year dating back to 2020.
Tiger Woods offers advice for son after tee shot
Tiger Woods will be right next to his son Charlie all weekend long at the PNC Championship. On every single hole, whenever Charlie takes a shot, the legendary golfer will be right there to watch.
That makes this entire weekend a unique coaching opportunity, and Woods got involved early on. After hitting a "d**n near shank" in Charlie's words, the 82-time PGA Tour winner provided some advice on the swing.
Tiger Woods said the "lines were good" and offered up some more advice for his son while smiling and laughing about it.
“It was off the heel, I saw that. It’s alright. You got it stuck in the ground going back.”
Charlie asked if that's what went wrong on the shot, and his father smiled and confirmed as much. Woods is one of the most fierce competitors of all time, but in this instance, he wasn't worried about a shot from his son going awry and costing them a stroke at the PNC Championship this weekend.