ORLANDO, Florida – The “Sunshine State” (maybe not this weekend) always has its fair share of PGA tournaments throughout the year, but only one of them brings together players from the PGA and LPGA tours, playing alongside their families: the annual PNC Championship.
This unique championship features a 36-hole scramble format, contested (for the last 12 years) at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando.
The course was designed by Greg Norman, who worked closely with the natural habitat to create challenging greens, wide fairways, and well-placed hazards. This 18-hole, par 72 championship course is a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.
With only 20 teams competing, players past and present have shown unprecedented interest in being part of an event that reflects the world class talent found at this inclusive family championship. It also showcases the special bonds that golf creates, including family pride, and the bragging rights that go along with a victory.
The PNC Championship has continued to evolve since the inaugural tournament in 1995, when ten major winners gathered with their sons. This year’s field featured 20 champions and a number of legendary players with 62 major trophies between them, including 15 from a guy named Tiger Woods.
The prize purse for the 2023 PNC Championship remained the same as last year, $1.085 million. The winning team received $200,000 while the second-place team received $80,000 and the third-place team received $57,250. The lowest amount a team could receive was $40,000.
Saturday Day 1
Low hanging clouds and a threatening forecast for heavy rains throughout the day moved Saturday’s tee times to 7:30am with Team Langer and Team Cink teeing off on hole No.1, while Team O’Meara and Team Kuchar had the honors on the 10th tee.
There were five foursomes playing off of split tees and carts were being used by everyone. In spite of the constant drizzle and pending forecast, it didn’t seem to deter the large number of spectators who were braving the weather to see their favorite players or teams.
Playing from the longest tees this weekend at 7106 yards were Stewart Cink, David Duval, Padraig Harrington, Matt Kuchar, Justin Leonard, Justin Thomas, and Tiger Woods. Playing the shortest tees at 5499 yards were Will McGee (Annika Sorrenstam’s 12-year-old son) and 84-year-old Lee Trevino. The rest of the field were playing one of the two sets of tees between the tips and fronts.
Wet fairways and greens didn’t stop Team Kuchar (Matt and son Cameron) from getting in the clubhouse with a day-one round of 57 (-15), the largest 18-hole lead in PNC Championship history. The score was one off the tournament record of 56, shot by Davis Love III and his son, Dru, in 2018.
When asked about finishing 15-under, and one shot shy of the 18-hole record, Matt Kuchar said, “To get off to a good start was an awfully good feeling and then we kept it going. I think between, you know, his (Cameron) great play, his great putting, and we kind of just really ham-and-egged it really well out there today.”
Four teams began Sunday’s final round three shots back at 12-under 60, including Team Langer (Bernhard and son Jason), Team Goosen (Retief and son Leo), Team Duval (David and son Brady) and Team Singh (Vijay and son Qass), the defending champions.
Sunday Day 2
The morning tee times found a wet course after a soaking night of rain. The rain subsided leaving behind a forecast calling for sustained winds between 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph possible.
The 9:20am tee time saw the foursome of Team Price (-4) and Team Trevino (-3) starting off the day. Team Kuchar (-15) and Team Langer (-12) were the last foursome to tee off at 11:17am. All 10 foursomes started from the 1st tee today without the use of carts.
As players made their way through the front nine, the sustained westerly winds quickly dried the putting surfaces and most of the fairways. Leading to some lower-than-expected scores in the early going. Team Langer (-20) seemed to have found the magic formula as they birdied eight of the first nine holes.
The top of the leaderboard looked like this when the final foursome reached the 10th tee. 1st: Team Langer -20 (10th tee), 2nd: Team Duval -17 (11th tee), T3: Team Singh -16 (10th hole), Team Goosen -16 (10th hole) and Team Kuchar -16 (10th tee).
Musical chairs on the back nine saw teams switching places on the leaderboard on almost every hole. The only problem was that Team Langer refused to let anyone come close as they continued to maintain a safe distance from the chasing pack.
Bernard Langer and his son Jason won the 2023 PNC Championships and the $200,000 prize, with a 25-under par score.
The win was Langer’s 46th career Champions tour title (it’s an official PGA Tour Champions event), and fifth at the PNC Championship, tying him with Raymond Floyd for the most wins in tournament history. Finishing two shots back, the runner-up prize went to David Duval and his son Brady, along with a check for $80,000. Vijay Singh and his son Qass were one further back on -22. They earned $57,250.
During the awards ceremony, NBC Sports’ Cara Banks asked the senior Langer, “You hold the most wins on the PGA Tour Champions now with 46, you already had the most belts in this great championship, but now you’ve added another. What was it about today’s 7 under through seven and making the turn at 8 under that was just so fabulous for your team?”
Bernhard Langer responded, “Just enjoying watching my son make putt after putt and great shot after great shot. It was like a dream. It was just incredible. I’ve seen a lot of great golf in my life but watching him today was unbelievable for somebody that only plays once every two weeks to come out here in these conditions and under these circumstances.”
