Charlie aces, but Team Woods fall to the Langers in PNC Championship playoff

Charlie Woods grabbed the headlines with the first ever hole-in-one recorded at the PNC Championship but it was the ageless Bernhard Langer and son Jason who walked away with the honours at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday beating Tiger and Charlie Woods in a playoff.

Before that Woods Junior hit his – and the event’s first ace – at the par-3 fourth hole to set off celebrations with his dad, who wasn’t even watching, but Langer Senior bettered that with his winning eagle putt on the first playoff hole after both teams had finished level on a record-setting 28 under par 116 (59-57) in the 36-hole scramble with 15 under totals in the second round.

Team Langer won the championship for a second straight year, and the 67-year-old Bernhard now has topped the event twice in a row with sons Stefan and Jason as partners on his way to six titles in all. It was also the second time Team Woods finished as runners-up after 2021.

“It was awesome having Dad there,” Charlie Woods said afterward on the event website. “No one made a mistake today, so that was some of the most fun I've ever had. On top of that, I made an ace. Of course never got to see it go in. So that sucks. But that’s all right. I don't think I can top that.”

Added Tiger, “That's one of the highlights we've ever had. On the hole previous, he made his first eagle (in an earlier PNC), and now he just made his first hole-in-one. It's a magical two-hole stretch. I’m just so happy for him and for the enjoyment we had as a family. To be out there with Bernie and Jason, it was a lot of fun ... It was back and forth, nobody made a mistake today; we had to earn it, and that was the joy of it.

“He’s (Charlie’s) gotten better at every facet of the game. That’s a commitment to practicing and developing as a player. I think that most of us forget he’s only 15 years old. I know he’s been doing this in front of the media for a long time. But being only 15, I think it’s incredible what he’s been able to accomplish so far, and the ceiling that he has is unlimited.

“I'm nowhere near competitive shape. I’m a great scramble partner. We made a great team this week, and that's the whole joy of it, is to be out here with family and bonding and just the enjoyment of each other's company. Hats off to the Langers. They played amazing.”

Said the 67-year-old German legend of facing Tiger in a competitive environment, “I played with him probably a dozen times. I was one of the first to play with him when he turned pro. But that was a long time ago. He’s come a long way and won a lot of tournaments since.

“For me personally, it just makes me focus even more so. I seem to enjoy that challenge to be the underdog or to play in tough circumstances. It just helps me to zero in even more. But I was very proud of how he (Jason) handled it because, you know, the first time you do that, it’s a bit of an out-of-body experience, for many of them, and he didn’t seem to be fazed by it. So it’s pretty amazing.

“But they couldn’t have been nicer. Both of them, truly very gentlemen-like. Fun to be with. Competitive. You could see they wanted to win this, and they played awesome. I mean, 15-under, that’s hard to do in windy conditions. They played really great.”

Finishing tied third behind the lead pairs were Padraig and Paddy Harrington with the junior player also scoring an ace, Team Duval and Team Sing, all on 23 under 121. “I was too excited. You couldn't have talked to me,” Harrington said of watching his son make an ace. “I was gone. This is a great event, and all of it is great. And we try and play well, but that was sheer joy.”