ORLANDO, Fla. – Tiger Woods and his 15-year-old son Charlie ran off five straight birdies on the back nine on Saturday to post a 13-under 59 in the scramble format, giving them a share of the lead in the PNC Championship in Woods’ first competition since back surgery in September.

Woods said he planned this surgery – the sixth on his lower back in the last 10 years – to ensure he recovers in time to play with his son for the fifth straight year.

This is the first time they have shared the lead after the opening round, along with the two previous champions – Bernhard Langer and son Jason and Vijay Singh and son Qass.

Woods hit a number of good shots, including a wedge on the short par-4 seventh, but otherwise downplayed his game by suggesting he still had a lot of rust. It was more about spending 36 holes at the Ritz-Carlton Club Orlando on a brisk day with his son, a sophomore at the Benjamin School in North Palm Beach.

His daughter Sam caddied for her father for the second year in a row. Her mother, Elin, was among the spectators at a family-focused tournament.

“We try to score every single shot for each other and play a ham-and-egg game,” Woods said. “And I think we did a great job of that most of the day. We caught up with each other, which was great. And Charlie pretty much made the most putts today.”

It helped to play in the same group as former British Open champion Justin Leonard and his son Luke, a senior and teammate of Charlie’s at Benjamin School.

Langer extended his amazing PGA Tour Champions record this year by winning for the 18th consecutive year. He and his son made eight birdies in a nine-hole stretch midway through the round, and they had an eagle on the 14th hole.

Singh and his son, who won this event in 2022, hit 28 shots on the back nine.

“There are so many teams in the hunt,” Langer said. “It’s the game of any player who is just three or four shots away from the leader, which is most of the field.”

Padraig Harrington and son Paddy and Tom Lehman and son Sean were at 12-under 60. The Lehmans appeared to be in the lead when they reached the green on the par-5 18th hole, but then it took them four shots to finish come the scramble format, which takes bogey.

Having Team Woods in the mix is ​​enough to get attention.

“It’s great for the tournament and happy for them,” Langer said. “Tomorrow it should be fun for the crowd to come out and watch everyone play.”

Woods has not competed since the British Open in July.

For Team Woods, it’s about not looking too far ahead. His father knows this only too well with his record-breaking 82 titles on the PGA Tour. The son got a lesson in that this summer.

Charlie Woods qualified for his first US Junior Amateur tournament, made it to Oakland Hills, but didn’t stay there long. He shot rounds of 82-80 and didn’t make it into match play. He also failed to qualify for the Cognizant Classic on the PGA Tour and US Open qualifying on Monday.

But he said the US junior was his biggest learning moment.

“It’s about focusing on my game,” Charlie said. “I was so focused on winning and my style of play that it was kind of how I was going to win and not how I was going to play the shot. And that kind of built up, and that led to two very, very bad rounds of golf. But live and learn.”

His father listened to the answer and nodded.

“Learn,” Woods said.

The PNC Championship is open to players who have won a Major or the Players Championship and a family member. Annika Sorenstam plays with her son while Nelly Korda plays with her father. Steve Stricker – winner of seven senior majors – plays with daughter Izzy, a freshman at Wisconsin.

Korda shined with a fairway metal from the sand on the par-5 14th, setting up eagle. Team Korda was four shots behind.