Pairing with Team Thomas helps Charlie Woods feel right at home at PNC
ORLANDO, Fla. – Tiger Woods credited playing alongside Justin Thomas and Thomas’ father, Mike, for helping his son, Charlie, feel comfortable on Day 1 at the PNC Championship.
Team Thomas and Team Woods were paired for the first round, and the two families have spent plenty of time together in South Florida. Woods has even had Mike Thomas, a PGA of America professional and his son’s swing coach, take a look at Charlie’s swing.
“To be out there with JT and Mike, the entire Thomas family,” said Woods, who is tied for sixth place at 10 under and tied with Team Thomas, “it couldn’t have been a better environment.”
Justin Thomas explained earlier this week that he and Charlie Woods have regular putting competitions when they are home and that he often has to remind himself that Charlie is just 11 years old. One of those moments occurred on the par-4 13th hole after Charlie Woods’ drive found the fairway, prompting Tiger to not even hit his drive.
Mike Thomas’ tee shot on the hole finished in a bunker and Charlie Woods left a note behind his golf ball.
“It started in the pro-am. Charlie drove one through the fairway and my dad was playing in front of them and he’d hit it through the fairway and into the trees. My dad wrote on a piece of paper ‘draw hole’ on it and put it under his ball,” Thomas laughed. “In typical Woods fashion he kept the piece of paper and when my dad hit it in the bunker he put the exact same piece of paper behind his ball.”
Asked if he was surprised by his son’s comfort level on Saturday, Woods smiled: “That’s what he has done [at home].”