Sure, his body hurts. That’s to be expected after all the injuries and surgeries that he has had over the years. Yet after playing six competitive rounds of golf in the last two weeks—five of them walking, one riding in a golf cart—the 15-time major champion was pleased with how he felt upon wrapping up a fourth consecutive appearance with son Charlie at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.

“I think that a lot of things are aching a lot more than my ankle, which is the way it goes,” said Woods, who had surgery on his right ankle in April after withdrawing from the Masters prior to the third round. “I’ll be able to walk and play. We’ve been working out hard, been able to recover. We’ve been training every day, which is great. It’s been nice to knock off a lot of the rust and some of the doubt that I’ve had because quite frankly I haven’t hit a shot that counted in a long time.”

The Woods shot 64-61 to tie for fifth place at 19 under par, six shots behind Bernhard and Jason Langer at 25 under. The winning duo shot 60-59 and Bernhard, 66, won this championship for the fifth time overall, the third time with Jason. David Duval and his son Brady eagled the final hole to sneak by the Singhs to grab second place.

A year ago, Woods was set to play in the Hero World Challenge, but withdrew late because of plantar fasciitis. He did, however, play the 2023 PNC, but rode in a golf cart for the 36-hole event.

This year, he opened his PGA Tour season with a tie for 45th place at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera, then made the cut at the Masters before the WD. He did not appear in another event until the Hero two weeks ago in the Bahamas, where he shot 75-70-71-72 to finish 18th in the 20-man field.

The PNC Championship is more about fun than competition. Woods played in the pro-am Friday with Annika Sorenstam and her son Will McGee, then played in the first round with his buddy Justin Thomas and his father Mike. Woods made it a full family affair by having his daughter Sam serve as caddie for both days, something she had never done.

On Sunday, playing with Steve Stricker and his daughter Izzi, the Woods were too far off the lead to really contend—coming off an opening round in which Charlie proclaimed “we just suck at putting”—and sputtered at the start, making par on three of the first four holes. But Tiger rolled in an eagle putt on the fifth hole and then Charlie provided the loudest roars of the day when he chipped in from short, left of the green on the par-4 ninth hole. A Tiger-like fist pump followed the feat.

CHARLIE WOODS!!

A chip-in birdie for Team Woods @PNCChampionship ? pic.twitter.com/0nh0KdP0JV

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 17, 2023

They turned in 31, added six more birdies over the final nine holes and proclaimed the week a success even though they fell short of their goal.

“Well, you had to hit a lot of different shots,” said Tiger, who will turn 48 on Dec. 30. “But at the end of the day, it’s a scramble. We get ball-in-hand, and to be able to tee the ball up, this would have been a very different day if we had to play the ball down or we couldn’t tee it up and put the ball-in-hand.

“I was able to hit a lot of little nifty little shots, like 10, or some of the shots I hit pin-high just because we had ball-in-hand. But the fact that I was able to hit the shots both ways, which was nice.”

Where Tiger plays next is unclear, but he indicated two weeks ago that he would love to play in one event a month starting most likely in February at the Genesis Invitational, which benefits his Tiger Woods Foundation. If healthy, that means a schedule of something like the Genesis, Players, Masters, PGA, U.S. Open and Open Championship are all possibilities. And yes, he still believes he can win again.

“I think given the fact that, if I’m able to practice and do the things that I know I can do, and prepare, I know that I can still do it,” he said. “I can still hit the golf ball. It’s just a matter of prepping and get enough reps in and get enough work in and being right physically and the endurance capability of it.

“I know if I can practice, I know I can still do it. I can still hit the golf ball. I can still chip. I can still putt. Granted it’s also putting it all together for 72 holes. That’s the challenging part of it.”

Main Image: Andrew Redington

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This little nugget serves as breaking news coming from golf’s ironman who has been winning everything in front of him for more than four decades. Yes, the man does take time off from the game.

“From now on, I’m on vacation,” Langer said, standing with son Jason. “So this is a bonus here … we’re heading tomorrow to Europe, to Germany, to spend time over there.”

Langer certainly deserved the rest and relaxation after another year of grinding on PGA Tour Champions. At 66, he played in 24 events, collected 21 top-25 finishes, and won twice, including the U.S. Senior Open in July, his 12th career senior major. It also allowed him to set the record for most PGA Tour Champions wins at 46, breaking Hale Irwin’s seemingly unbreakable mark.

Sunday at the PNC Championship, the Langers started the day three shots behind Matt Kuchar and his son Cameron, but they erased that deficit in just three holes. The Langers birdied each of the first seven holes—while the Kuchars’ putters ran cold—and shot 28 on the front nine with another birdie on the ninth hole. By that time, they built an insurmountable lead and with five birdies on the back they were the lone team to break 60 in the final round, good enough for a two-stroke victory over David Duval and his son Brady, who made eagle on the last hole to sneak by the Singhs. The Langers shot 25-under total for two days.

“Just it’s always special whether you win or not, just being here is like the Olympics,” Bernhard said. “They only take 20 teams and there’s probably 25 on the waiting list that would love to be here. It’s always a wonderful thing to get an invitation to come and play here, and as you all know, I’ve got four kids, played with all four of them, and we have a lot of wonderful memories.”

Jason Langer, 23, and a graduate from the University of Pennsylvania who now works in Manhattan, has bragging rights over his two sisters and brother. He’s now paired with his father to win three of the five PNC Championships.

Bernhard and Jason Langer win PNC Championship – Mike Mulholland

“I’m the youngest of four of my other three siblings, they are all married and have kids,” Jason said. “They are at a bit of a different stage of life than me. In years past, multiple people wanted to play and we were all sort of playing golf and we wanted to play. Maybe had a qualifier one year or we kind of alternated. This year, no one was really vying for this other than me, and I got the nod.

“It was a ton of fun. I said it earlier, but I don’t get to play as much golf anymore, and I don’t get to see my parents and my family quite as much anymore. To be able to play golf as a family and in a beautiful spot and great competition and play a really good golf course, it’s amazing.”

Now Bernhard heads to his beloved Germany with yet another trophy to add to his impressive collection that includes two green jackets from winning the Masters in 1985 and 1993.

“We look forward to be home skiing for a couple of days and spend time in the snow,” Bernhard said. “It was the weirdest thing for me when I came over here to live in America and married a woman from Florida, and spending Christmas Day in 80 degrees of weather was kind of, this is not Christmas, you know. I always related Christmas with cold and snow or ice or something like that. But we got used to it. So it will be nice to go back and see some of my family.”

Main Image: SOPA Images

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The team was five under after 12 holes in rainy and windy conditions—well behind the Kuchars at the top of the leaderboard—when Charlie, 14, carried the ball 320 yards with it rolling just off the back of the green.

321 yards? No problem.

Charlie Woods just drove it OVER the green. ?

pic.twitter.com/DfzND47rDI

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) December 16, 2023

Tiger and Charlie both putted from the position and missed the eagle attempt, but converted on the easy birdie to get to six under with five holes remaining.

Image: Mike Mulholland

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On Saturday, during the first round of this year’s event, Sam, 16, moved inside the ropes to handle the caddie duties for her dad, the first time she’s held the job.

Tiger’s long time business partner Rob McNamara caddied for Woods two weeks ago at the Hero World Challenge and again on Friday here during the pro-am. Charlie’s caddie is a high school teammate.

For the first time, Sam Woods is caddying for her father today @TigerWoods | @PNCChampionship pic.twitter.com/Wy8V8Q4nm1

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 16, 2023

“Sam was fantastic,” Woods said after shooting eight-under 64. “This is the first time she’s ever done this, so it couldn’t have been any more special for all of us.

“For me to have both my kids inside the ropes like this and participating and playing and being part of the game of golf like this, it couldn’t have been more special for me, and I know that we do this a lot at home, needle each other and have a great time. But it was more special to do it in a tournament like this.”

Caddie duties this weekend aren’t as strenuous as in most other events. With impending nasty weather, all players and caddies are riding in golf carts in hopes of playing as quickly as possible. The Woods’ are paired with Justin Thomas and his father Mike.

The last time Sam Woods was in the spotlight came last year when she inducted her father into the World Golf Hall of Fame prior to the Players Championship.

“My dad found himself in a position to make an 18-foot putt to force a [2007] U.S. Open playoff, which he missed by a foot,” Sam said during that speech. “He then had to rush to the airport, fly from Pittsburgh to Orlando, and drive to the Winnie Palmer Hospital. Within five minutes of walking into the hospital room, still wearing his red golf shirt, on June 18, I was born. He may have lost that day, but he won the greatest gift of all.”

Image: Mike Mulholland

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So, why should golfers eat pumpkin seeds?

Harmon says that they’re a good source of magnesium. If a golfer has too little magnesium, a lot of problems can occur. Not enough magnesium results in difficulty sleeping, muscle cramps, muscle twitching and even irregular heartbeats, Harmon says.

“Pumpkin seeds are also rich in fibre, protein, antioxidants, and the mineral zinc, which supports optimal immune function,” Harmon says. “Fibre is essential in a pre-round meal because it slows the digestion of food preventing blood glucose spikes and improves satiety while on the course.”

If you don’t like pumpkin seeds, you can also get magnesium from leafy greens including spinach, and from nuts including cashews and almonds.

Though pumpkin seeds might not sound like standard breakfast fare, they’re worth trying.

Image: Photographer, Basak Gurbuz Derman

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Lydia Ko, without a victory this season on the LPGA, birdied the penultimate hole at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., to send her and teammate Jason Day to a one-stroke victory in the latest iteration of mixed-team golf. The Down Under duo—Ko is from New Zealand and Day from Australia—combined to post 26-under 266 after a best-ball 66 to edge the Canadian pair of Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners.

Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom and Ludvig Aberg were another stroke behind after a sterling 60.

Although there have been male-female pairings recently in other events, including the QBE Shootout and PNC Championship, the Grant Thornton Invitational is the first pure mixed format since the 1999 JCPenney Classic.

The women, keyed up by the opportunity to show how well their games compare to their male counterparts, brought their A-games to the tournament, which featured three formats—scramble, alternate shot and modified best ball—highlighted by Ko’s second shot into the par-5 17th hole from 208 yards with a fairway metal.

“That looks so good,” Day said as the ball sailed towards the pin.

“As soon as it came off the club face, I was like, ‘I think it’s good, please be good,’ and it was heading right towards the pin,” said Ko, who with Day began the final round with a two-stroke lead after an impressive 66 in alternate shot on Saturday. “I don’t think I could have hit that shot 100 times and it would turn out better.”

The ball checked up 10 feet behind the hole, and Ko two-putted for the go-ahead birdie. Ko, 26, also did the honors of closing it out on the par-four home hole, two-putting for par from 30 feet, though Day, after missing the green, chipped to three feet that also could have won it. Each a former world No. 1, Ko and Day split $1 million of the $4 million purse.

“It was kind of weird because it felt like the most stress-free win because I knew Lydia was going to step up in the end, which was fantastic,” said Day, 36, who won his 13th PGA Tour title earlier this year at the AT&T Byron Nelson. “It was a fun week. Having the two tours join this week was a fun way to finish the year. I’m hoping we get to do it for a very long time.”

Madelene Sagstrom thinks the LPGA players more than held their own on the stage with their PGA Tour peers. Douglas P. DeFelice

Aberg, the rookie sensation who was solid in his Ryder Cup debut during Europe’s victory in Italy and then won his first PGA Tour title at the RSM Classic last month, gushed that “I was a passenger at times [Saturday],” during foursomes play. He also was a happy spectator when Sagstrom snaked in a long double-breaking eagle putt on 17 that forged a momentary three-way tie for the lead.

“It’s been a very big week for us, for women’s golf this week, and showing how good we are with you guys,” Sagstrom said. “I feel like on every team we all contributed equal ways.”

They sure contributed their share of fireworks. Another example: Lexi Thompson’s ace at the par-3 16th hole on Saturday that put her and Rickie Fowler in the thick of things before dropping to T-6 on Sunday.

Mutual gushing was the order of the day through 54 holes. Each side had a lot to appreciate about the other. The women got to witness the power the men unleashed with their drivers. The men saw just how well the women scored with overall skill and tenacity.

“I think it’s really cool to marry the tours together,” Tony Finau said. “They’re seeing shots that they haven’t seen with us, and vice versa. We’re seeing shots that we haven’t seen, and we only get to watch these guys on TV, they only get to watch us on TV.”

Ko underscored perfectly what it meant to be paired with Day when she told her caddie she wanted to hang back at the men’s tee on the final hole to watch Day hit one more drive. Afterwards, she joked about the natural regional rivalry between Kiwis and Aussies, “but that was not there this week.”

The hope among LPGA officials is that the Grant Thornton remains an annual event that also opens up other joint ventures with the PGA Tour. Douglas P. DeFelice

What was there was a showcase of pure enjoyment of the game along with excellence. You know what that’s good for? Anyone? We’ll let Ko spell out it for you.

“This week I think every player that’s here, whether it’s the PGA Tour player or LPGA player, I think we’re here for more than just the prize money and winning. It’s about the growth of the game,” she said. “It’s great that we got to win on top of that, but I think with the help of Grant Thornton, this is, I think, a start for so many more exciting things to come, and I’m excited to be a part of this partnership.”

“It will be interesting to see kind of the after-effects going into next year, but I think one of the things is seeing the guys and the gals tee it up together and have fun and us just enjoying being out there together,” Fowler agreed.

Megan Khang, who teamed with Denny McCarthy to finish T-4, also was thinking ahead. “I feel like this is a great … step in the right direction,” she said. “I feel like people are going to get a taste of this event, see how fun it is and how engaging it is of how many families come out, boys, girls. They just see these players on both levels competing and having fun and showing up and putting up some good scores. I think it’s great for not only golf, but for the future of golf.”

Main image: Cliff Hawkins

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Wells Fargo has been the financial backer of the tour’s North Carolina stop at Quail Hollow since 2011. Last season, the Wells Fargo Championship was named a signature event, a new designation given to a series of tournaments featuring limited fields and elevated purses. The tournament is keeping that status for the 2024 season, along with its new $20 million prize money payout.

However, according to the Charlotte Business Journal, the bank and financial services company will not renew its contract, which ends in 2024. Following the report, Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter wrote that Wells Fargo wanted to stay on as tournament sponsor, but was unwilling to pay the increase in the purse (the tournament paid out $9 million in 2022).

The news comes amid reports that tournaments and their sponsors are unhappy with the changes in the PGA Tour’s schedule and infrastructure, particularly with the tour’s ask that tournaments handle a greater portion of the purse responsibility. Not only are many tournaments’ financial backers stretched thin, but many are wondering what they are getting for their money, sources tell Golf Digest, especially if their events are not part of the signature series.

Wells Fargo wanted to stay on but was not willing to pay what was being asked. https://t.co/s7Ln1kRc3r

— Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) December 8, 2023

Wells Fargo’s decision also comes the day after one of golf’s best players, Jon Rahm, defected to LIV Golf, a move that could possibly accelerate—or complicate—the tour’s negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to end professional golf’s civil war.

The 2024 Wells Fargo Championship begins May 9. Wyndham Clark is the defending champion.

Image: Mike Ehrmann

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Monahan spoke at the New York Times DealBook Summit, covering a number of topics from the tumultuous past year that included the continued threat of losing players to LIV Golf; the tour’s surprise framework agreement with PIF in negotiations unknown to the players, and the subsequent leave of absence Monahan took to address his own mental health issues.

Monahan, the tour’s commissioner since 2017, returned to his job in late July but has faced withering criticism from some players for the lack of transparency during the PIF negotiations and the concern expressed by some that he is no longer the best person to lead the tour.

Monahan, 53, did not address those concerns in his talk on Wednesday; instead, he portrayed himself as a key player in the continued negotiations with PIF and other potential investors. A deadline of Dec. 31 was set for a deal to be finalized in the original framework agreement.

“We’re having conversations with multiple parties,” Monahan said. “The deadline for our conversations with PIF, as you know, is a firm target. I’ll be with Yasir next week. And we continue to advance our conversations. And I think it’s pretty well known that there’s a large number of other interested parties that we’re also pushing to think about.”

Fenway Sports Group and KKR & Co. investment firm co-founder Henry Kravis have been among the entities that are reportedly interested in a tour stake.

“When this gets finalized,” Monahan said, “the PGA Tour is going to be in a position that … the athletes are owners in their sport, and you’ve got not only the PIF, but you’ve likely got another co-investor, with significant experience in business, in sport and brand that’s going to help take the PGA Tour to another level and help us take share from other sports and even be more competitive.”

In the aftermath of the stunning announcement on June 6 about the PIF agreement, Monahan felt barbs of criticism from numerous sides, and that situation came to a head when, a week later, it was announced that the commissioner was taking a leave of absence from the tour for health issues. Monahan revealed in August that he was suffering from anxiety related to the PIF situation that caused him physical and emotional distress.

“I think what’s happening to me in my head around that timeframe was not too dissimilar to what was happening to me in my head in the months prior to it,” Monahan said on Wednesday. “This had been an extended conflict.”

It clearly pained him to leave at such a critical time in the tour’s history.

“I knew I’m the first person to run into a fight,” Monahan said. “Anybody that knows me will tell you that. And I knew the perception was that I was running away from a fight. And that was excruciating. That hurt me to my core.”

In his most insightful comments since his absence, Monahan called himself “a work in progress,” while noting that he’s taken steps in his life, both mentally and physically, to rectify some of his past problems in dealing with stress.

“You’ll hear people talk a lot about ‘I focus on the things I can control.’ I wasn’t doing a good job of that,” Monahan said. “I was confusing that. I am fully focused on the things I control. And so, you have to realize that it’s part of life, it’s part of who I am, it’s my truth. And I am a work in progress. And I’m just every single day trying to improve.”

Having said all of that, Monahan continues to believe that his decisions during the year have put the PGA Tour and its players in a better position for the future.

“People have made far more consequential decisions than the one that I’ve made and ultimately, the one that we’re going to make,” Monahan said. “You have to look out over the horizon, you have to believe in your heart of hearts that what you’re committing to is the right decision. And you have to be willing to take all the criticism, and there has been a lot of it, and it will continue to be more.”

Image: Jason Allen/ISI Photos

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That all changed at the Tiger Woods Invitational earlier this fall when Homa and Woods were tasked with rattling off as many of Woods’ record 82 wins as they could. In the recently surfaced video, which went viral on Monday, you can see Homa’s life flash before his eyes as he begins the quiz with a simple, almost involuntary dagger:

“Not Riviera.”

We would’ve accepted the #HeroWorldChallenge pic.twitter.com/jbFVRwB5qf

— TGR Live (@TGRLiveEvents) November 27, 2023

Only Homa (and maybe JT) would be brave/dumb enough to begin a recitation of Woods’ greatest golf triumphs with one of the most notable gaps on his resume. That takes some giant titanium cojones. Just ask Stephen Ames what happens to guys talk trash to Tiger Woods. It ain’t pretty.

Does a similarly bloody fate await Homa at the Hero World Challenge? With both set to tee it up in the Bahamas, has the bill finally come due? We’ll just have to wait and see. Woods seemed to take the jab in stride, but if this look doesn’t say “keep laughing, I’m reloading,” we don’t know what does.

Images: Supplied

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