Joaquin Niemann playing with ‘extra motivation’ to support young cousin

Megha Ganne, 17, became the first amateur to lead after a round at the women’s Open since Jane Park did it after one round at Newport Country Club in 2006.

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Odysseus and Telemachus; Marlin and Nemo; Jellybean and Kobe Bryant. History, real and imagined, is so thick with fathers and sons that the temptation is to get carried away at the PNC Championship, where Tiger and Charlie Woods will be the headliners for the third straight year at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando. The swings! The mannerisms! The outfits! Hang on, though. Slow down. Tiger is just a man, and a hobbled one, at that. Charlie is just 13. “I want him to enjoy whatever he’s doing,” Woods said in their first joint interview at the Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship in Kinder, Louisiana. And there it is, the through line to which all else must adhere. Joy. “Hey, Charlie, you gotta practice this,” Lee Trevino said last year while giving Team Woods an impromptu clinic on the PNC’s driving range. Trevino and Woods disagreed on who was the best-ever ball-striker, each citing the other, and at one point Woods doubled over laughing. Tiger thinks a lot about fatherhood these days. Much of his induction speech into the World Golf Hall of Fame in March recalled how he snuck onto courses with his dad Earl to skirt the age-limit restrictions, and how Earl and Kultida took out a second mortgage so Tiger could travel the country to play American Junior Golf Association events. His hopes this week? To feel well enough to play. That Charlie does well. It’s different for Charlie. He wants to beat his friend Justin Thomas, who will play with his dad, Mike, who coaches Charlie and with whom Justin won the PNC Championship in 2020. Oh, and Tiger and Charlie also wouldn’t mind winning. Last year Team Woods made 11 straight birdies in the final round, finishing second to John Daly and John II. It was enjoyable for all. “The competitive juices, they are never going to go away,” Tiger said then. “This is my environment. This is what I’ve done my entire life. I’m just so thankful to be able to have this opportunity to do it again.” They’ll do it again this weekend with the scramble format Saturday and Sunday. And we’ll watch. Old and Young Tom Morris. Jack and Gary Nicklaus. Craig and Kevin Stadler. Dave Stockton and Dave Stockton, Jr. Johnny and Andy Miller. Al and Brent Geiberger. Bill and Jay Haas. We warm to these stories, the perks (top instruction, optimized gear), challenges (unfair expectations, incessant scrutiny), and debate (nature versus nurture, DNA versus drive) always the same but not. Has any player ever labored under a shadow like the one cast by Tiger Woods? The PNC is where we gather for all of it. Charlie may have to carry Team Woods, what with Tiger battling plantar fasciitis in his right foot. He was rusty in The Match last week as he and FedExCup champ Rory McIlroy fell to the super-duo of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. “Play hard, partner,” Woods said. The 12-hole exhibition under the lights came a month after Charlie shot 72-69-71 for a 1-under total of 212 as he finished 11th in Louisiana. Tiger caddied. “Get the misses tighter,” Charlie said of his golf goals. “Practice more. Just have fun.” And would Tiger be a first-ballot Hall of Famer as a caddie? “He forgot my putter a few times,” Charlie said. “That’s about it.” Tiger didn’t miss much when enjoyment meant world domination. At his Hall of Fame speech, the winner of 82 PGA TOUR titles, 15 majors, said he remains conflicted about the famous Presidents Cup tie as darkness fell on South Africa … nearly two decades ago. But he’s softened as a dad even while indulging in the gamesmanship that his father visited upon him: the well-timed jangling of coins, ripping of Velcro, and/or clearing of throat. “If I can get into his head,” Tiger said of Charlie, “that means someone else can get into his head. It’s going to get to a point where I can’t get into his head, and then no one else can.” As a father, Tiger’s life is complicated by his celebrity. As a player it’s more complicated still. Intending to play in the recent Hero World Challenge, the tournament he hosts in the Bahamas, he took barefoot walks on sand, but it backfired, and he withdrew before the Hero even began. Officially, Woods played just three times in 2022, making the cut at the Masters, making the cut but withdrawing with leg pain at the PGA Championship, and missing the cut by nine at The Open Championship. It was at St. Andrews, he said, that his leg basically stopped working. He turned his attention to Charlie. During the Presidents Cup in September, when Woods could have been in the back room for U.S. Captain Davis Love III, he was carrying Charlie’s clubs as the kid posted a career-low 68 in a qualifier for the Begay III tournament. That, along with managing the delicate titration of rest and rehab, is Tiger Woods on the verge of his 47th birthday on Dec. 30. Out: Just Win, Baby. In: Dad life. No shame in that. At the PNC, where Team Daly will defend, Team Trevino will lead the field in Strokes Gained: Merriment, and Team Woods will no doubt dazzle in their Sunday red, it’s the entire point.

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AUSTIN, Texas — There are always shocks at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play but some are bigger than others. Last year Dustin Johnson never trailed in any of his seven matches on the way to the title, but on Wednesday at Austin Country Club, the no.1 seed was nine-over against Austrian 52nd seed Berndt Wiesberger. Amazingly, despite his struggles, he made it through 17 holes before falling 3 and 1. “I thought it was the easiest game I could have. I’m the underdog playing with the defending champion, so just try to go out there and see what happens,â€� Wiesberger said of his win. “He gave away a couple of holes quite unexpectedly. But you’ve still got to make the par when your opponent makes the bogey.â€� Last start winner at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and 2015 champion Rory McIlroy found himself 5-down to Peter Uihlein through just 10 holes. Not even five birdies in a row down the stretch was enough for what would have been an impressive comeback. The American 57th seed prevailed 2 and 1. “I didn’t really have much expectations,â€� Uihlein said. “It was going to go (one of) two ways, I was going to get crushed early or I felt like I could get him early, because he may be a hair flatter than usual.â€� Julian Suri joked pre-tournament that he would “shock the worldâ€� and the last man in and 64th seed started on his promise with a 3 and 2 win over 11th seed Marc Leishman. “I like to think I play my best with a little chip on my shoulder,â€� Jacksonville native Suri said. “A lot of people are saying congrats on being in the field. I don’t think in any other tournament they would say congrats on being in the field. I wanted to be here and do more than take pictures.â€� Phil Mickelson (14) lost to Charles Howell III (59), Tommy Fleetwood (9) fell to Ian Poulter (58) and then Jon Rahm (3), Pat Perez (15) and Matt Kuchar (16) could only manage halves against Keegan Bradley (63), Si Woo Kim (50) and Zach Johnson (54). On the day where the top seeds play the lowest seed in each bracket, just eight of the favorites were victorious. But all hope is not lost for those big names. While moving on to the weekend will be tough – it is not impossible. Eight players in the three previous years of the round robin format have indeed made the elimination rounds after a first up loss. Dustin Johnson was one of them in 2016. “Forget it, go on to tomorrow,â€� McIlroy said of his predicament. “Obviously it’s out of my control now so I’ve just got to win my next two matches and hopefully the draw works in my favor.â€� BEST COMEBACK Zach Johnson sat 4-down with four holes to play against fellow veteran Matt Kuchar before rattling off four straight birdies to force a halved match. The match featured 16 total birdies and just three bogeys in an old-fashioned shootout. BEST MATCH While the above match could have easily qualified here – the battle between young PGA TOUR winners Cameron Smith and Patrick Cantlay was a tense one. Barely a word was spoken and putts as short as a foot were not conceded. Smith holed out for birdie on the par-3 7th from a bunker to set up a three-hole advantage at the turn before they each traded birdies on four of the next five holes in a you score, I score scenario. Under pressure Cantlay then delivered back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16 to pull within one. Smith finally closed it out on the 18th hole 2up with a clutch par. Get recaps on all 32 matches here. BIGGEST UPSET The defending champion and No.1 seed Dustin Johnson playing 17 holes in 9-over par to lose to Bernd Wiesberger wasn’t on the prediction list of many. Johnson can lose his spot as world No.1 this week if Justin Thomas wins the event. Honorable mentions to Peter Uihlein and Julian Suri for taking out Rory McIlroy and Marc Leishman respectively. MOST DOMINANT PERFORMANCE Bubba Watson had seven birdies in his opening nine holes on the way to a 5 and 3 win over South African Branden Grace. Watson made 139 feet, 10 inches worth of putts in just 15 holes. Incredible. EASIEST HOLE WON Two-time event champion Jason Day won the par-4 13th hole against James Hahn hitting just one shot. Day attempted to drive the green but missed to the right in the rough. But Hahn hit two tee balls in the water before just walking to the next hole. Day won 4 and 2. MOST HOLES WON Wiesberger and Kevin Chappell each won eight holes in their wins over Dustin Johnson and Daniel Berger respectively. LEAST HOLES WON Kevin Na, Alexander Levy and James Hahn were only able to win one hole each in opening day losses to Alex Noren, Tyrrell Hatton and Jason Day. MADNESS MOMENT Luke List was already facing a tough ask to beat FedExCup leader Justin Thomas but a moment of madness where he banged his putter against a wall and bent it on the eighth hole meant he had to try to overturn a three-hole deficit while putting with a wedge. He almost did – taking the match to the 18th hole. Read more here. MADNESS MOMENT 2 We often see players take off their shoes for shots out of or near water hazards, but Sergio Garcia went barefoot for a shot from dry land. The newly crowned father found the cart path with his drive on the par-5 12th and preferred the concrete lie to his nearby options. However, with metal spikes he needed to ensure he wouldn’t slip and blasted away barefoot to set up a birdie.

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