ORLANDO — Bernhard Langer and his son Jason entered the final round of the PNC Championship trailing by three strokes and wound up winning by two after a final-round 59.
“That’s just steamrolling people,” said runner-up David Duval.
The Langers finished at 25 under in the two-person scramble. For Bernhard, it’s his fifth title at the PNC – twice with his eldest son Stefan (2005 and 2006) and now three times with his youngest son, Jason (2014, 2019, 2023).
“Very special,” said Bernhard, who has competed in the PNC with all four of his children. “It’s always special whether you win or not, just being here is like the Olympics. They only take 20 teams and there’s probably 25 on the waiting list that would love to be here.”
Rain and wind that gusted more than 30 mph couldn’t the dampen the spirits of teams at the family-focused event. And with Tiger Woods and son Charlie back for a fourth consecutive year, plenty of fans braved the weather to catch a glimpse.
Here are five takeaways from a soggy but festive Sunday at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club:
Charlie's chip-in
There were plenty of highlights from Team Woods all week, but perhaps never has Tiger Woods beamed more brightly than when Charlie chipped in for birdie on the ninth hole.
Charlie, for his part, pointed toward the sky and pumped his fist as the crowd exploded.
CHARLIE WOODS!!
A chip-in birdie for Team Woods @PNCChampionship 💪 pic.twitter.com/0nh0KdP0JV
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 17, 2023
“To see his reaction,” said Woods, “it happened right in front of me. He went right in front of me. He got excited and I looked over at Stricks and he was shaking his head. It was great.
“And then on top of that, to see Izzi (Stricker) almost hole it right on top of him. It was a great family atmosphere at that one little hole.”
Team Woods shot a 61 on Sunday to jump up to a share of fifth. Tiger drained an eagle putt on the fifth hole to jumpstart their round. They birdied five of the last six holes.
Izzi's dream week
At the start of the week, Izzi Stricker told her whole family that the two people she wanted to play with the most were Nelly Korda and Tiger Woods. The pairing with Korda on Saturday was set up, but Woods was by chance.
“It was definitely nerve-wracking on the first tee,” said Izzi, the youngest daughter of Steve and Nicki Stricker, “but I got comfortable. I’ve met Tiger before, so to get to talk to him and Charlie. I haven’t seen him in a long time, it was really cool and something I’ll never forget.”
A two-time Wisconsin girls state champion, Izzi has committed to play college golf at Wisconsin, where she’ll be a freshman in the fall of 2024. Both her mother, Nicki, and sister, Bobbi, played golf at Wisconsin. Steve, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour Champions this season, played collegiately at Illinois.
“Personally, I proved a lot to myself,” said Izzi. “I mean, the most high-stakes tournament I’ve played in was state high school, and to come here and to still perform well, I thought I did, it meant a lot to me personally, and to be here with my family was really cool.”
'Most coveted invite in golf'
Brady Duval considers the PNC Championship to be the best week of the year. His father, David, said that once August rolls around he’s on pins and needles looking for the email invitation.
“I think certainly with the majority of folks who play at our age, it’s the most coveted invite in golf,” said David, “and I think as you could argue, it’s the hardest field to get into.”
While the Duvals couldn’t catch Team Langer, they did finish second thanks to a closing 61. Brady, a freshman at Coastal Carolina, competed in two events this fall with his best finish, a T-45, at the Golfweek Conference Challenge.
Tiger's health
On Monday after the Hero World Challenge, Woods’ first start since the Masters, the 15-time major winner felt good enough to get back in the gym. When asked how his body held up after another week of competition – though it was a shorter week – Woods said a lot of things were aching more than his ankle, “which is the way it goes.”
“I’ll be able to walk and play,” he said of what’s coming in 2024. “We’ve been working out hard, been able to recover. We’ve been training every day, which is great. It’s been nice to knock off a lot of the rust and some of the doubt that I’ve had because quite frankly I haven’t hit a shot that counted in a long time.
“So having to post a score and hit shots on the right number, and hit shots with consequence, it’s been nice.”
Can Woods win again?
Woods was asked after Sunday’s round if he thought he could win again on the PGA Tour. The 47-year-old (nearly 48) said it comes down to the number of reps his body will allow.
“I haven’t had the leg good enough where I’ve been able to compete and play a lot of rounds,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of procedures over the years, and that’s just part of it.
“I know if I can practice, I know I can still do it. I can still hit the golf ball. I can still chip. I can still putt. Granted it’s also putting it all together for 72 holes. That’s the challenging part of it.”
