Winners and losers: Rahm makes LIV debut as Tour calls off Pebble

ORLANDO, Fla. – Fathers and sons and golf? The three have been joined together since there were sticks and small rocks and lone crooked flagsticks protruding from barren fields in Scotland, while kings still ruled. This week’s PNC Championship, which begins Saturday at Orlando’s Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, will garner extra attention as Tiger Woods, partnered once again with his 12-year-old son, Charlie, makes his return to golf following a horrific single-vehicle crash in Los Angeles in February. The 36-hole event, featuring 20 teams and played using a relaxed scramble format, will be televised by NBC to a national audience over the weekend. Many interested golf fans (and Woods’ fellow competitors) are waiting to get some inkling of where he stands in his arduous rehabilitation 10 months after his frightening accident. He counts himself a lucky man. That Woods is walking, let alone playing golf again, just days before his 46th birthday on Dec. 30 says something about his resolve, work ethic, stubbornness and steely resiliency. It also serves up a statement for the event in which he is playing and the true reason he is here. Woods said in an interview at his own Hero World Challenge two weeks ago that he is a long, long distance from competing on the PGA TOUR once more. Take away this weekend’s TV cameras and bright lights, strip the competition down to its very core, and Tiger might be as human as we ever have viewed him. As he tweeted when he committed to play on Dec. 8, he is playing as a dad. That’s all. A dad looking forward to playing the game he loves alongside his son, who seems to love it, too. Acorn, meet the tree. Charlie Woods stole the show at last year’s PNC Championship, showing off incredible skills for an 11-year-old, not to mention so many of his father’s famous mannerisms. Tiger was nervous for him, understandably, but Charlie thrived in the spotlight, showing off his dad’s laser focus, the spinning club twirls, and even his dad’s trademark fist pumps. Charlie’s 5-wood from 175 yards to 3 feet to set up an eagle-3 at the par-5 third hole in last year’s PNC made the evening highlights of every media outlet on the planet. Along with PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan and Jay’s dad, Joe Monahan, longtime IMG executive Alastair Johnston – the creator of the Father-Son event born in 1995 – joined Tiger and Charlie for a pro-am round at the PNC a year ago. Tiger was clearly different, Johnston said, so filled with joy to watch his son in the arena. Johnston has had an interesting window into the life of Tiger, not only through his management company, IMG, but as his former next-door neighbor back when Woods lived in the tony gated Isleworth enclave in Orlando. In fact, Woods was awash in accolades upon returning to Florida following his mind-blowing, 12-shot victory at the 1997 Masters, the first of his 15 major championships. He went out to retrieve his mail one day, and Johnston wanted to offer his own congratulations. You know, Johnston told Woods, you now are qualified to play in the Father-Son. “He looked at me as if I had three heads, and asked, ‘What’s that?’” Johnston said via phone on Monday. laughing. “I said, ‘Oh, you’ll see.’” Johnston, who worked side by side with Arnold Palmer for many years, made a terrific discovery during a stroll through the locker room one day during the 1995 Senior PLAYERS Championship in Detroit. There were courtesy phones set up for players to use. On one phone was Jack Nicklaus. Raymond Floyd was on a phone in a different corner. On a third phone, Dave Stockton. All three men had played that afternoon, but seemed much more interested to check in with home to see how their sons were doing in various college and junior competitions. Johnston had an idea: What if there was a tournament, a real competition, in which fathers could compete alongside their sons? And to make the tournament field elite, each father needed to be a major champion (winners of THE PLAYERS later were added). Eventually, what began as the Father-Son at Vero Beach’s Windsor Club in 1995 would evolve into something much more inclusionary, hence the name change to the PNC Championship. Today, the qualifications are to be a major winner (male or female) competing with a family member. Fuzzy Zoeller, Jerry Pate and Bernhard Langer all would compete alongside their daughters, and last year, Annika Sorenstam competed alongside her father, Tom. This week’s field includes LPGA No. 1 Nelly Korda, who is playing alongside her famous tennis-playing dad, Petr. Players have teed it up with stepsons. Bubba Watson is playing with his father-in-law. “Adding grandfathers,” Johnston explained, “allowed Arnold (Palmer) to compete, and nobody was objecting to that.” Many major champions who’d like to compete simply aren’t able because daylight limits the field to 20 teams, which makes for some tough late-year phone calls for Johnston. It’s not so much telling the famous major winner the news, but envisioning the conversation that person must then have with his relative to break the news. Johnston starts thinking about fields two and three years in advance, and said he is driven by “great narratives.” It intrigues him to see Watson, a three-time major champion, able to compete with his father-in-law. The Cinks – 2009 Open Championship winner Stewart Cink and his son, Reagan – were invited to return after they successfully paired for two PGA TOUR victories last season, with Reagan on his dad’s bag. Of course, there is no bigger, or more attention-packed, ongoing narrative than Woods hitting shots once more. A year ago, he let Charlie, who plays from forward tees, take care of many of the drives for the team, and this week, that unquestionably will be a point of strategy. “This is Dad’s ‘Take Your Kid to Work Day,’” Johnston said. “And Tiger and Charlie epitomized that. Tiger was very nervous for Charlie (last year, in Charlie’s debut). This year he’ll be relying on Charlie. “Without having done it last year, I don’t think Tiger would be playing this year. But the way Charlie handled it all … I knew that if there was a way of doing it, there was a good chance that Tiger was going to play.” So away we go. It’s a late-season “hit-and-giggle” event, as Tiger may affectionately call it, but don’t think the shots won’t count. They will and they won’t, but on a bigger scale, represent an important milestone and tiny step forward as Tiger Woods moves toward the future that remains uncertain. When Saturday dawns at the PNC, Woods will be there not as the man trying to break Sam Snead’s record for TOUR victories or a man contemplating resuming his pursuit of Jack’s major mark. Tiger Woods will be hitting shots as a dad, like many of us do on Saturdays. And there always is great importance in that.

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SAN DIEGO – In his prime, Tiger Woods would barely look at a fellow competitor and if he did it was to deliver a stare so icy it would rip right through you. Just how he will be in the heat of battle again remains to be seen as we’ve not had the pleasure of a fully healthy Woods since 2014. But one thing is certain – this is a new Tiger Woods. Both physically – with his fused back – and mentally. On Tuesday at Torrey Pines, Woods returned to a regular PGA TOUR event for the first time in a year, playing a nine-hole practice round as the sun rose with Jason Day and Bryson DeChambeau. His appearance at the 2017 Farmers Insurance Open – where he missed the cut a week before withdrawing in Dubai and going in for further back surgery – is his only full field TOUR event since the Wyndham Championship in August of 2015. Four back surgeries since March 2014 had many worried this week would never come again. But now, at this stage, there is much hope and excitement at what a fit Woods can do. A ninth-place finish in the Bahamas at the limited field Hero World Challenge in December surprised and impressed many. A year earlier – on a similar comeback trail – he finished at the back end of the same field. And while he had shown some good signs – he was still playing rigid and still in pain. This time around, the 79-time TOUR winner looks freed up in his swing. This time he waited after surgery. This time he was patient. “The other times he came back I don’t think he was ready and he probably came back too soon,â€� Day said after the round Tuesday. “This time he definitely looks ready; I think his swing is really nice, he’s hitting the driver a long way and he looks like he’s got some speed, which is great. And his touch is coming back.â€� It was true that in his nine holes he hit some powerful drives, mint irons and wedges and holed plenty of putts. But he also found some of Torrey’s famous deep rough on occasions. Having won the Farmers Insurance Open seven times plus the U.S. Open and junior world titles at Torrey, it is a track he’s comfortable with. And the man himself feels ready. After a brief break following the Bahamas event Woods began serious preparations for his return. “I feel good,â€� Woods said. “Before the Hero I was basically given the OK probably about three or four weeks prior to the tournament and I thought I did a pretty good in that prep time. “Now I’ve had a little more time to get ready for this event. I’ve played a lot more golf and overall, I feel like I’ve made some nice changes. It’s just a matter of coming out here and competing again.â€� Having had the setbacks in the past Woods admitted he had to dial it back at times as his enthusiasm to return built. “It’s just that I’m trying to build in golf endurance. So, I’m hitting a lot of golf balls and building up my endurance,â€� he said. “You have to do it. You have to beat balls for a little bit of time to build up your endurance and muscles. I feel like I’ve done that and now it’s time to play a tournament.â€� For a long time, players wouldn’t speak to Woods unless spoken to. You could almost see the literal parting of the waves as he walked through the range or practice areas in a direct line to his destination.  He was all business. But now, at 42, Woods has evolved into a different human. In near darkness Tuesday he greeted Day on the range with a huge grin and a bear hug. Yes. A hug. Woods was all smiles with other players, caddies and officials alike – actively seeking out Justin Rose on the putting green to give another bro cuddle. At one point in the morning round, Woods went looking for one of Day’s errant drives in the rough even though Day himself had given up on it. This version of Woods is clearly a friendly guy. DeChambeau, who was playing with Woods for the first time, had to pinch himself at times. On their final hole he admitted to trying to pound his driver with something extra to show the veteran what he had. He wanted to impress. “There were a couple of moments I was like – I am playing with the greatest,â€� DeChambeau laughed. The 2017 John Deere Classic winner believes everyone wants to see Woods back to his best, and he’s expecting it to happen. “I expect he will come back to full form, I really think so,â€� he said. “His passion is there; his drive is there and if he gets it going it is going to be scary for everybody again.â€� Day, who has become friends with Woods over the past four years or so, warned to keep expectations tempered, just for now. “He looks impressive; it was good to see,â€� Day said “You take (Torrey Pines) last year and the Dubai tournament out and he hasn’t really played in two years. “I think the biggest thing is to not get too far ahead, or think he’s going to come back and win straight way. “He may win straight away, but you never know.â€� Just the hope he might has everyone wishing it was Thursday already.

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HONOLULU – Nearly four years removed from storming home to win a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games, Matt Kuchar still carries the spoils around everywhere he goes. In a sock. Kuchar, who defends his Sony Open in Hawaii title this week, revealed the bronze medal he won on the back of a final round 63 in Rio is with him, in his backpack, wherever he travels. To stop scratches he keeps it in an old sock. RELATED: Why Todd might be the prohibitive favorite at Waialae | TOUR players rally to Australian bushfire relief cause | Power Rankings But it comes out of its cocoon often, particularly through the many airport security screenings the nine-time PGA TOUR winner frequents. “It hadn’t found a home anywhere other than my backpack. It’s easy to travel with … and just been fun to show off,â€� Kuchar said. “In airport screenings I always take it out. They see this big metal blob and always take it out so I always bring it out and it’s in a sock and even though I’ve put the sock out open in a bin, the screener always grabs a hold of it, pulls it out, and (their) eyes kind of bug out. “It’s a similar reaction over and over again. Just kind of bug out. Is this real? What’s it for? They start showing it off to their friends. (And I’m like) Hey, I got to catch a flight now,â€� he laughed. With 2020 being an Olympic year Kuchar would love to return and represent the USA once more. But each nation gets just two slots for the golf competition, with the exception of players inside the top 15 in the world. A country can have up to four if all of those players are inside the top 15. The U.S. is the only nation who currently has four players inside the top 15. Kuchar is currently 24th in the world with 12 other Americans ahead of him on the list. The qualification period for Japan ends on June 22. If things ended now the U.S. representatives would be Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Cantlay. Next up ahead of Kuchar would be Tiger Woods, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, Gary Woodland, Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau and Rickie Fowler. But the difficulty won’t stop Kuchar chasing a place in the team. “I’m hugely proud to have been part of an Olympics, to be able to call myself an Olympian,â€� Kuchar said. “And I’m hugely proud to be a medalist at an Olympics. It’s definitely a goal of mine to be part of the Olympics in 2020 in Japan. I’m still amazed at the scale, the scope of just what the Olympics means to people, how big the Olympics is. “It’s a tough one to be a part of Team USA. You think of the chance of qualifying. It’s a hard team to be a part of. (But) It’s a big goal of mine. I would be disappointed if I didn’t make it, but I understand how challenging it is at the same time.â€� In 2016, Kuchar started the final round four shots out of third place in Rio. While he was unable to reel in eventual gold medalist Justin Rose or silver medal winner Henrik Stenson, Kuchar still felt like a winner given his achievement. “That was an incredible run. It felt Olympian. Looking back it ranks hugely high just to be able to finish so strong,â€� he added. “To be able to go ahead and know exactly the situation and come through and have a great round was amazing. To think there is that big cut off between third and fourth. It’s either you medal or you don’t. Medaling is winning in essence, and that was certainly one of my great final rounds.â€� Kuchar also spoke glowingly of the experience away from competition. While he didn’t stay in the athletes village due to the fact he brought his wife with him, they did get to other events as spectators. And did he connect with any other athletes? “I did become friends with Jack Sock actually. He’s the tennis player. We saw their bronze medal match. He played with Steve Johnson, and Daniel Berger’s dad was the coach,â€� Kuchar said. “We sat in the players box with Jay Berger and they won bronze. They came over just in huge celebratory fashion and Jack and I traded shirts. I got an Olympic tennis shirt for one of my Olympic golf shirts.â€� Jack. Sock. Naturally.

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