Charlie Woods’ tee-box confusion at the PNC Championship explained
The spotlight shines brightest on Tiger Woods' 13-year-old son, Charlie Woods, who is competing at the 2022 PNC Championship alongside his father.
The tournament started on December 15 and will wrap up with the finale on December 18 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Course in Orlando, Grande Lakes. It is the third time Charlie and Tiger Woods have competed at the PNC Championship, and they look forward to clinching the trophy this time.
On Wednesday, the PGA Tour announced that Charlie Woods will compete for the second-longest tee, as reported by several outlets. Soon after, Golf Channel's Todd Lewis revealed that Woods would play two tee boxes at the PNC Championship alongside John Daly and Nelly Korda.
But it was never made official, as confirmed by PGA Tour referee Joe Terry.
Tiger and Charlie Woods will tee off on Saturday at 12:02 pm in the first round of the PNC Championship, with Charlie starting his game in the 13-year-olds' tee box.
Joe announced the decision on Thursday, as quoted by Golf.com:
"The thing is, there's no change. We had heard that Tiger might wish Charlie to play on a longer golf course. But I had scheduled Charlie to play the tee box for his age with the 13-year-olds. So, there's been no change; he will play from the 13-year-old tees."
The earlier decision created a lot of buzz on the internet, with sports fans asking the PGA Tour to be fair with Charlie. However, according to Terry, that was only speculation because the decision was never made. He said:
"If Tiger requested it, we would certainly honor that request. The Committee does have the authority to allow a change if someone wants to play a longer golf course... Just because he's playing better and he's Charlie Woods, we're not going to punish him because he's 13."
It is important to note that Tiger Woods and Charlie Woods played at the PNC Championship in 2021 and finished second to John Daly and his son John Daly II.
The 2022 PNC Championship format
The 2022 edition of the PNC Championship will have a four-ball format, meaning every player will have their ball at different tee holes based on age, and the lowest score by the team will be counted for that hole. The game will be played for 36 holes, with the team with the lowest score clinching the trophy.
Last year's defending champions, John Daly and John Daly II, are back in the game to maintain their legacy. The star-studded field of 20 professional golfers has been paired up with their families and friends to compete in the championship for a chance to win $1.085 million in prize money.
The PNC Championship is exclusively available on the Peacock Network for the American audience. One can also binge-watch the tournament on the Golf Channel and NBC.
2022 PNC Championship Round 1 tee times
Tee No. 1: Saturday, December 17
- 10:05 a.m. – Team Duval, Team Price
- 10:18 a.m. – Team Singh, Team Faldo
- 10:31 a.m. – Team Cink, Team Leonard
- 10:44 a.m. – Team O’Meara, Team Lehman
- 10:57 a.m. – Team Furyk, Team Langer
- 11:10 a.m. – Team Player, Team Trevino
- 11:23 a.m. – Team Spieth, Team Korda
- 11:36 a.m. – Team Daly, Team Harrington
- 11:49 a.m. – Team Sorenstam, Team Kuchar
- 12:02 p.m. – Team Woods, Team Thomas