ORLANDO, Fla. — Jordan Spieth’s first PNC Father-Son Challenge appearance is a continuation for the PGA Tour star and the man who introduced him to golf.
Shawn Spieth and his son began playing when he was 8 or 9, but it wasn’t long before Dad offered little competition. Once young Jordan reached juniors, Dad exited stage left and watched his son blossom beyond anything he could fathom.
“I didn’t grow up playing the game, so I couldn’t really tell,” Shawn said Thursday.
Young Jordan’s talent and comfort level while playing tournaments soon was impossible to ignore. Now 29, Spieth is among golf’s most popular, accomplished players and sure to draw a crowd this weekend during the sold-out PNC Championship parent-child challenge at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando.
Spieth, a 13-time winner on the PGA Tour, and Shawn, whose game comes and goes, are scheduled to tee it up at 11:38 a.m. Saturday with Nelly and Petr Korda, the only father-daughter combination in the 20-team field.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Spieth said. “It’s like playing with Adam Scott. She swings it so sweet. It will be nice to watch that tempo and hopefully Dad will watch that tempo and take that tempo.”
Spieth praised his father’s short game and called his iron play “pretty good” but wondered where Dad’s drives might end up.
“My job will be get one out there, and then we’ll both try and take advantage from there,” Spieth said.
The plan might not deliver what would be a popular win. But the father-son is an experience as much as a competition.
In the locker room Thursday, Spieth ran into both 87-year-old legend Gary Player and 11-year-old Will McGee, son of Annika Sorenstam — the only mother in the field.
“That was new for me,” Spieth said. “There’s a dispersion on the PGA Tour, but it’s like 20 to 50, not 11 to 87. That was cool to see.”
Fans will be treated to one of the event’s more intriguing fields ever.
Tiger and Charlie Woods are the headliners for the third straight year. The duo will tee it up at 12:17 p.m. in the final pairing with 2020 winners and family friends Justin and Mike Thomas. Defending champions John Daly and Little John Daly Jr. will be two groups back with ever-popular Padraig Harrington and son Paddy.
Harrington, a three-time major champion, was as eager as anyone to see 13-year-old Charlie on the practice range.
“I will take a little sneaky look at Tiger, no doubt,” Harrington said. “But to be honest, I’m more interested in Charlie.”
The younger Woods generated buzz Friday when he was limping due to a sore left ankle, leading his father to joke of the injury, “Well, it’s better than mine.”
Woods, who turns 47 on Dec. 30, is battling plantar fasciitis in the right foot of a leg he shattered during a February 2021 car accident.
His son’s ailment is, Woods said Friday, “kind of bad timing. But we’ll be ready come game tomorrow.”
Sandwiched between the Woods-Thomas and Daly-Harrington groupings will be Sorenstam and son with Matt and Peter Kuchar, who were crowd favorites at the 1998 Masters when Matt was the low amateur with his dad as his caddie.
Myriad viewing options are available for spectators.
Kuchar, a Winter Park native, is the only professional without a major but has 9 titles, including the 2012 Players Championship.
Plenty of eyeballs will be on the Spieths, given Jordan’s shotmaking, popularity and inaugural appearance.
The pairing stirred memories for Shawn, a Dallas native who recalled the moment he realized his 12-year-old son just might be a prodigy. At a regional tournament in Waco, Jordan closed with 6 birdies and an eagle to build a 5- or 6-shot lead.
“It doesn’t happen like this,” Shawn recalled himself thinking. “Maybe he’s pretty good.”
