Time to take a look at this weekend’s favorites/contenders at the PNC Championship, a tournament that has evolved from the old “Father-Son” designation to add some interesting combinations, so let’s get to it.
Team Thomas: Justin (son) and Mike (father): The defending champions shot 25-under par last year — good work for 36 holes of scramble golf. Everyone has seen J.T. in action although he’s been struggling with his putting late in the season. Mike’s a long-time PGA Professional and has enough game to play best-supporting-actor for J.T. It’s not going out on a thin limb to put them as the team to beat once again.
Team Singh: Vijay (father) and Qass (son): The Veej isn’t getting any younger and hasn’t been a great threat on the Champions Tour, still, playing scramble golf isn’t much of a pressure situation for a guy with his resume. The real question mark is Qass. He was supposed to be pursuing a professional career but there isn’t much about him playing anywhere on mini-tours or other such arenas. They gave Team Thomas a real run last year and shot 24-under.
Team O’Meara: Mark (father) and Shaun (son): They were only two shots behind Team Thomas at the end of play on Sunday a year ago. Can they make another run? Tough call here. Last year Shaun did win the “Best Beard” competition.
Team Trevino: Lee (father) and Daniel (son): Tough team because Lee gets to play from the “up tees” which were installed in the competition to lure him, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player into the action. Lee is back with Daniel, and Gary is playing with grandson Jordan. No Nicklaus team this year. Lee Trevino is still a factor with a wedge in his hands.
Team Daly: John (father) and John II (son): Audiences got to know “Little John Daly” in this competition but Little John isn’t little anymore. He’s a freshman at the University of Arkansas and is trying to compete for a spot in the starting lineup. In college that’s the top five and he spent most of the fall season outside that number. At the tournaments where teams can bring two five-man squads, he competed. In his first event, he shot 83 in the first round but bounced back with a 68. It will be a different team dynamic this year for these guys.
Team Korda: Nelly (daughter) and Petr (father): The world’s No. 1 female player makes her debut in this event. Her dad was a world-class tennis player in his day, not sure what kind of golfer he is but hanging out with two daughters like Nelly and Jessica has to make one better through osmosis. This will be an interesting team to watch.
Team Woods: Tiger (father) and Charlie (son): Most intriguing twosome in the field and the return of El Tigre will bring a huge television audience to this event. It will be interesting to see how much better Charlie is than he was last year. He’s got more junior tournament experience under his belt and from the up tees, he should be longer than he was a year ago which means Tiger won’t have to hit many drives. They shot 20-under last year. So what can we expect from Tiger? Mike Thomas from Team Thomas played with Woods last week (in Jupiter) and offered this scouting report: “I played with him last week a couple days, one day, and Charlie. It’s crazy how good he’s hitting it and how far he’s hitting for what he’s been through.”
Team Bubba: Bubba Watson (son-in-law) and Wayne Ball (father-in-law): Bubba hit some great shots last week at QBE — are there more coming this weekend? First time entry for Bubba.
Team Kooch: Matt Kuchar (father) and Cameron Kuchar (son): Don’t know enough about Cameron’s game. Matt had a down year in 2021.
Team Paddy: Paddy Harrington (father) and Paddy Harrington (son): Two Paddys are better than one.
Team Duval: David (father) and Brady (son): David is coming out of retirement to compete on the Champions Tour.
Team Furyk: Jim (father) and Tanner (son): Dad’s one helluva good player.
Team Cink: Stewart (father) and Reajgan (son): Stewart will have to carry this team.
Team Watson: Tom (father) and Michael (son): Dad’s a helluva player.
Team Stenson: Henrik (father) and Karl (son): Dad better hit drivers rather than 3-woods off the tee.
Team Lehman: Tom (father) and Sean (son): Dad is a helluva player.
The Longshots:
Team Price: Nick (father) and Greg (son): Greg takes prize for longest hair in the field (sorry Nelly)
Team Faldo: Nick (father) and Matthew (son): Sorry Matthew, the Squairz shoes won’t make up for the fact that your dad spends most of his time in the broadcast booth.
Team Beem: Rich (father) and Michael (son): Total unknown entity here.
Team Player: Gary (grandfather) and Jordan (grandson): Dad-gum-it Gary’s old!
There you have it, all the team.
We do know who most of the world is pulling for.
Yeah, those Woods guys.
