Tiger Woods showed flashes of the 15-time major champion amid some struggles in his first competitive round of golf in a year.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Tiger Woods knows the challenges he faces, understands the physical limitations that will hamper him, realizes that this week at the PNC Championship is just one small step — however painful — on his way back from a serious car crash. All of that perspective served him well as he played his first competitive round of golf in a year in what is considered an offseason family event for major champions. Playing with his son, Charlie, for the second straight year — “Charlie’s going to be carrying you guys I guess,” Justin Thomas quipped on the first hole — Woods showed flashes of the 15-time major champion but plenty of reminders of the long journey he faces. “It’s frustrating when I don’t hit the ball as far as I know that I can and the shots that I see don’t come off the way I want,” Woods said after he and Charlie combined for a scramble score of 10-under-par 62 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club. “By the old numbers, I don’t have endurance. I haven’t played. This is, what, my fourth, [fifth] round of the entire year. I don’t have any golf endurance. “It’s tiring out there, so it was a slow day. But that’s something that — if I want to compete out here at the [PGA] Tour level — I’m going to have to get the endurance back and hit thousands upon thousands of golf balls. Just takes time.” Woods, who turns 46 on Dec.30, was in no way upset or discouraged. If anything, he appeared to enjoy the day: the needling with Thomas and his dad, Mike; the applause from spectators who were keen to welcome him back.
