ORLANDO, Fla. — Tiger Woods and 15-year-old son Charlie ran off five straight birdies on the back nine Saturday for a 13-under-par 59 in the scramble format, giving them a share of the lead in the PNC Championship in the 48-year-old golfing great’s first competition since having back surgery in September.
Woods said he scheduled that surgery — the sixth on his lower back in the past 10 years — to be sure he recovered in time to play with his son for the fifth straight year.
This is the first time they have shared the lead after the opening round, and they were joined in first place by the past two champions of the tournament: Bernhard Langer and son Jason, and Vijay Singh and son Qass.
Woods hit an array of good shots, including a wedge to inches from the cup on the short par-4 seventh, but otherwise downplayed his game by suggesting he still had a lot of rust. This was more about spending 36 holes on a brisk day at the Ritz-Carlton Club Orlando with his son, a sophomore at Benjamin School in North Palm Beach.
His daughter, Sam, caddied for her father for the second straight year. Their mother, Elin, was among those in the gallery in a tournament that is all about family.