PNC CHAMPIONSHIP

December 15, 2023

Tiger Woods

The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club

Press Conference

Q. Thanks so much for joining us.

TIGER WOODS: Absolutely.

Q. If you can talk a little about how it feels to be back here with Charlie, playing for the fourth time?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it's a blast for us to be back out here, playing and competing and just enjoying this atmosphere. It's been a blast, and hopefully we get through the next day or so without any delays, and hopefully we're able to post something good.

Q. And I noticed you decided to walk today. What made you decide to walk, not take a cart?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I felt like I was physically fit to do it, and also, walking is always better for my back. I just wanted to keep it loose and keep it going, and we're just having so much fun, it doesn't really matter. We had a good time doing it.

Q. It's your second tournament in three weeks. Are you beginning to feel the rust coming off?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it's better. Today was definitely a bit better. I felt like I made some -- I was able to knock a lot of the rust off there at Hero and felt -- my hands felt better with control hitting shots, and especially today with the wind blowing as hard as it was, I was able to hit flighted shots nicely, which was not quite on par or as sharp as I was, as I wanted to be at Hero.

Q. But you're feeling good today?

TIGER WOODS: I am.

Q. And how about Charlie? I remember last year he had growing pains in his ankle.

TIGER WOODS: He's still growing. You can see how much he's grown from last year. It's amazing how much he has grown, has changed, and it's a moving target with him, right. He's grown somewhere near four inches this year, so his swing has changed, it's evolved, clubs have evolved.

And we kept trying to adjust things, and it's been a lot of fun. But it's also challenging for him because each and every couple weeks, things change. He just has -- he's growing so fast.

Q. I mean, what would you say would be the biggest change in his game from last year to this year in terms of growth of game?

TIGER WOODS: Understanding how to hit shots. But I think his speed has gone dramatically up since last year. But I think that more than anything, it's just the fact that he's grown so fast. The aches and pains of growing, just teenage life.

Q. And they have moved him a tee back I think, so he's playing from a tee further back?

TIGER WOODS: He is. He's one tee further back, so I guess he's tee No. 2. He's just one tee ahead of me, which is fine because he's hitting it past me now. So we still have an advantage out there, but we both have to hit shots well at the same time.

Q. I know that you've been caddying for him and that you just walked around at the state championships with him. From those two perspectives, have you sort of seen two very different aspects to his game, how you are able to help him in both positions?

TIGER WOODS: I enjoyed caddying for him and being there with him, just to talk through shots with him and have him understand what I would see or how -- the thought process I would have going through shots. He would bounce things off of me, and give him my take on certain things.

And sometimes he doesn't see it the way I saw it, which is fun, but I think it's the understanding of how to hit the proper shot at the proper time. And that's what all kids have to learn is when do I hit a certain shot at the right time, or how do I take stuff off a shot, how do I hit it a little bit harder, what do I need to do.

You can do that at home all you want, but under tournament conditions, it's just so different. And being able to share that with him, share my experiences with him in game-time mode, I think that it was great for both of us because I think we both are able to learn from it and grow from it. I think I learned to be a better teacher with it, and I think that he became a better player because of it.

Q. He's growing, obviously, and he's got all the resources, but there's obviously -- I'm sure you realize, he's going to want to spread his wings a little bit and test things out himself. Has that been a learning experience for you as well to kind of know when to let him kind of feel his way through life?

TIGER WOODS: No, I let him go. And you know, I provide guardrails for him and things that I would like to see him learn and address, but also, then again, I'm trying to provide as much space as I can for him. Because there's so much of the noise in our lives that people are always trying to get stuff out of us, and my job as a parent is to protect him from a lot of that stuff.

Also, then again, as a teenager, I want him to try and become his own man at the same time. So it's a challenge as a parent and to provide that -- that atmosphere for him, to learn, to grow, and have that freedom, meanwhile understanding that there's so much noise looking into our lives at the same time.

Q. Is that something your dad was good at with you?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, he was great at it. But also, it's a different era, too. We didn't have phones and cameras looking at us 24/7, and there was no social media. It was a different era, and I've had to adjust my parenting and what I have to share with him just because the world is so different.

Q. And does he ask you if he can go play or do you ask him to go play, or you know, is he very motivated?

TIGER WOODS: Very motivated. I have not been able to play and practice as much as he has been able to, but I try and go out there every time he wants to.

Now I'm able to start getting out there a little bit more with him, and I'm still able to chip-and-putt and show him different shots around the greens and things like that, but also I've watched him hit so many golf balls over the past year because I've been home. I haven't been able to play, so I've been able to help him, watch him play high school golf, junior golf.

So it's been a huge positive I think for both of us.

Q. And is there any shot that he at his age can play that you think, gosh, I couldn't do that at his age?

TIGER WOODS: I sort of didn't have the speed that he has at that age, but also, I didn't have the equipment, either. The equipment is so different. We were just transitioning out of Persimmon, so it's a different era, but also, the different golf ball, too. We were able to do so much more with the golf ball. I would hit different shots and do more things with the golf ball because it just moved a lot more.

But I'm able to share a lot of those things with him and share a lot of feels and hand stuff that I have learned through my entire career.

Q. And I know when we were talking to players, the dads or moms, they are always like, oh, now that they are listening to me or now they think I know what I'm talking about, but it seems to special, he listens to you.

TIGER WOODS: He does but he doesn't. But then again, that's what all teenagers are, right. And it's my job as a parent to provide that atmosphere for him to either -- to ask the different questions and provide that environment. And we are both competitive, right. So I want to keep the environment fun, competitive. And we push each other, which is great.

And the needle is always out. If you're going to be able to mouth off and give the jabs, then you have to be able to take it. That's been a lot of fun for both of us.

Q. Along those lines, pet peeves, what's something about Charlie, does he leave the light on or do you hate the music he listens to? Anything fun or humorous that gets under your skin about him?

TIGER WOODS: I just don't like the fact that he stares at his phone all the time. Put your phone away and just look around. That's one of the things that I think all parents struggle with is most kids don't look up anymore. Everyone is looking down.

Look around you, the world is so beautiful around you, just look up. But everyone is staring into a screen, and that's how people view life. It drives me nuts at times because he's always looking down and there's so many things around you that are so beautiful at the same time.

Q. Obviously Orlando is special to you. How nice is it to come back and just experience Orlando?

TIGER WOODS: I love Orlando. This was my first home away from home. I moved out of California and moved to Orlando back in '96. So this was a big part of my life. The kids were born here. I've had a lot of success, whether it was at Bay Hill or it was Disney or be able to play with my son here.

There's so many great experiences here in Orlando, and it's great to be back.

Q. When there's memes and videos of the two of you, so many similar gestures and you're so similar, is there one thing that you think, I love that he does that like me, and is there one thing you think, God, I wish he wouldn't do that like me, in all the similarities?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think one of the things that we both do, we don't realize we have that tick, is our shirt tuck, right. And we both have allergies, so we're always scratching our noise. Those are ticks that we both have.

Things that drives me nuts, he drops his club on his follow-through and doesn't watch where the golf ball goes. Granted, I've done that a lot throughout my career, so I -- you know, it's looking into a mirror, basically.

Q. Finally, I guess today we saw the first hole-out, and so many of his shots were in play, and you birdied the first hole. Is there anything you're doing differently, like in your approach to the course for the tournament? Is there any holes that you thought maybe it should be Charlie teeing off?

TIGER WOODS: Well, that's one thing we were trying to figure out today and we were talking about going into this week. Because he's playing a tee further back this year, and the forecast, the way it is, whether or not he should hit first or I should hit first and put my little cut in play and let him be able to take a rip at it.

I think today on 10, 12, 13, I got one in play and he's able to go for the green. I can't get there. But you know, those are things that we have to make up on the fly because of the weather that's coming in and how the golf course is going to play.

We were both open about that. We're going to have to make those decisions in real time and try to figure that out.

Q. And that's pretty fun, making team decisions?

TIGER WOODS: It absolutely is. We both are talking through the entire process, and that's what's been fun for both of us. He was an 11-year-old when he first came here. He's now 14, and things are just different. He has more accountability and he has more understanding how to play the game. I'm asking him to take a look at some of my strokes and my swings, what you see, keep an eye on this.

When we first came here, that was the complete opposite. And also, that was a COVID year. So things are very different.

But also, then I don't think anyone has seen me hit more putts and chips the last couple years than he has. And so he knows when things are off and what I like to feel, what I like to go to and what is my tendencies. He has a very good eye.

Q. So I was going to ask you what his biggest change is, but actually you've talked about that. What is the biggest change Charlie would see in your game apart from the fact that you're obviously more physically able and more mobile?

TIGER WOODS: I don't have probably the shots that I used to have. But also, then again, I think he has a better understanding of what I like. As I said, I like to feel, and where I like -- where I go off. And today we were talking about some of my strokes, and I then put a shaft down every now and again, what I like to see and what I like to feel. And audibly. We talked through it together. We're a team, and this event over the years has brought us closer together and provided an atmosphere for us to be able to compete but also bond as a father and son.