ORLANDO, Fla. – For the second time this month Tiger Woods is poised to check his surgically-rebuilt proper ankle in competitors, though this week’s PNC Championship is not going to be almost as demanding because the Hero World Problem.

Whereas Woods walked Friday’s 18-hole pro-am alongside his son, Charlie, he’ll use a golf cart for Saturday’s opening spherical on the Ritz-Carlton Golf Membership. So will the remainder of the 20-team subject as officers moved up tee instances and can ship teams off the primary and 10^th tees in an try to finish the spherical earlier than a chilly entrance brings heavy rain and wind to Central Florida.

“I felt like I used to be bodily match to do it and, additionally, strolling is at all times higher for my again. I simply needed to maintain it free and maintain it going, and we’re simply having a lot enjoyable, it doesn’t actually matter,” Woods instructed a pool reporter when requested about his resolution to stroll throughout the pro-am spherical.

Like he mentioned earlier this month within the Bahamas, Woods is assured together with his swing and is getting his contact again with every aggressive spherical, following ankle surgical procedure in April that had sidelined him because the Masters.

“It’s higher. At present was positively a bit higher. I used to be capable of knock quite a lot of the rust off there at Hero, and felt my palms felt higher with management hitting photographs,” he mentioned. “Particularly at this time with the wind blowing as arduous because it was, I used to be capable of hit flighted photographs properly, which was not fairly on par or as sharp as I used to be, as I needed to be at Hero.”

Woods completed 18^th out of 20 gamers on the Hero World Problem however he confirmed indicators of improved well being by navigating 72 holes. By comparability, this week’s group occasion with a scramble format will really feel extra like leisure rounds.

Woods and his son completed tied for eighth place, six photographs off the tempo set by final 12 months’s profitable group of Vijay Singh and his son, and the 15-time main champion mentioned Charlie’s recreation continues to evolve as he grows.

“His velocity has gone dramatically up since final 12 months. However I believe that greater than something, it’s simply the truth that he’s grown so quick. The aches and pains of rising, simply teenage life,” Woods mentioned of his 14-year-old son. “He’s one tee additional again [than last year]. He’s only one tee forward of me, which is okay as a result of he’s hitting it previous me now. We nonetheless have a bonus on the market, however we each must hit photographs effectively on the identical time.”

That is the fourth 12 months Woods and his son have performed the PNC Championship with the duo’s finest end a runner-up exhibiting in 2021 to John Daly and his son.

Staff Woods is scheduled to tee off for the primary spherical Saturday at 8:22 a.m. (ET) alongside the group of Justin Thomas and his father, Mike.

Stream every day of the PNC Championship stay on Peacock. Click on right here to be taught extra and signal as much as watch 20 household groups, together with Tiger and Charlie Woods.