Welcome back to Monday Finish, where we hope you’re ready to feign excitement as you open the most bizarre and useless golf gift you’ve ever imagined from your well-intentioned but golf-ignorant aunt and uncle. On to the news!

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GOLF stuff I like

The ace and the other ace too.

If you’ve visited this website, you’ve probably already seen it Charlie Woods‘ Hole-in-one from Sunday at the PNC Championship, but even a day later it seems surreal. The most famous kid in golf plays two rounds a year (that’s eight par-3s) on TV and makes an ace on one of them?! The father-son Woods tandem, plus Sam Can the caddy celebrate Charlie’s first hole-in-one in family colors while he’s in competition on Sunday? Great.

They ended up losing in a playoff against Bernard And Jasonthe members of Team Langer, who reached Woods’ 57 Sunday (both days are a two-man race), but still left the course beaming. When asked which day he wanted to include in his fondest golfing memories, Charlie didn’t hesitate. “NO. 1. It’s not even close,” he said. tiger called it “the thrill of a lifetime.” It was a feel-good moment for the whole family while playing golf on vacation.

But I would like to put a little shine in that direction Paddy Harrington. No, not Padraigwhose parenting advice we parroted in this column just last week. But Paddy, his son, made his second ace of the day just minutes after Charlie’s.

In this case, too, the father was probably even more excited than the son.

“I was too excited. You couldn’t have talked to me. I was gone,” he said. “It’s a great event and everything is great and we’re trying to play well – but this was pure joy.”

Joy and family before Christmas? That’s golf stuff I like.

WINNER

Who won the week?

Bernard And Jason Langer won the PNC Championship; The win was Bernhard’s record-breaking sixth and Jason’s record-breaking fourth. Jason is a 25-year-old investment banker who plays golf sparingly, which means some of you, my dear readers, are also one legendary father away from a PNC championship.

John Parry won the Afrasia Bank Mauritius Open, the self-proclaimed “most beautiful week” in golf, thanks to four birdies and an eagle on his last seven holes. The Englishman won the DP World Tour in his rookie season in 2010 – but he hadn’t won since. He is ranked No. 102 in the world and will start 2025 at No. 1 in the tour rankings.

Rory McIlroy And Scottie Scheffler scored a confident victory Bryson DeChambeau And Brooks Koepka in the dark, cool, yet fascinating showdown and earn a whole lot of Bitcoin in the process.

And (digs deeper) Veer Ahlawat won the Tata Steel Tour Championship on the Professional Golf Tour of India and finished with 64, winning the tour final and fighting his way back into the world top 500.

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NON-WINNER

A few golfers who didn’t win but still won.

At the PNC tiger And Charlie shot a record of 59-57, which somehow wasn’t good enough. I know it’s a short course, a scramble and a relatively gentle build up. But I’m still blown away by these results.

Behind Langer and Woods’ tie at 27 under, there was a three-way tie for third place at 23 under Team Duval, Team Harrington And Team Singh. Pushed for the bronze medal spot!

The amateur is well known in Africa Christo Lamprecht finished T2, the best result of his young professional career. He’s ranked 476th in the world and I think it’s safe to bet that number will be even lower by the end of 2025.

And long-time fan favorite Eddie Pepperellwho lost his card at the end of the 2024 DP World Tour season, led through 54 holes in Mauritius before stumbling to 74 on Sunday. His T9 finish was still his best in over a year.

SHORTCUTS

Five Takes by Fred Couples.

An entertaining, far-reaching one Fred couples The pre-tournament press conference included the following:

At his first PNC appearance with his stepson Hunter: “I’ve seen enough of it that every pro who walks off the 18th green says it was the greatest week of his life. And if I don’t say that, someone better come and shoot me.”

Via text message with Tiger before PNC: “He said, Dude, I’m so happy for you. It’s just the slope you’ll love. And I already know all that, but then he said: You want to play? I said, no, we’re not playing with you and Charlie. That won’t happen.”

While watching “The Showdown.”: “I got a text from someone saying, ‘Are you looking at this?’ Actually by Joe LaCava. I don’t even have to say what the text was about. But then when I turned it on, I think they were on the 5th hole. It was pitch black and freezing cold. I don’t know why they did that, playing such a big match… you know, it was just weird.”

On the question of whether the PGA Tour needs better entertainers: “When you play well you have to give people more than they expect. And when you play badly it comes to you not wanting to do anything stupid… We need to make people love golf again.”

Changes on the PGA Tour: “I love watching it. I have no problems with smaller fields, more money. I don’t think that’s a problem at all.

“I think the tour is supported by the best players. And if you’re not one of the best players right now, you can be. But it shouldn’t just be easy. They want things to be easy for you when you’re ranked 75th to 130th on the money list. And every time you go to a tournament there are only six, eight or 10 guys standing when you drive in. And I think they run the tour.”

A VIBRANT THOUGHT

Will McGee get philosophical?

This is less of a swing thought and more of a life thought Annika Sorenstam‘s son Will McGeewho loves the PNC Championship as much as anyone else. The 13-year-old left-hander was asked before the tournament how much he was looking forward to the weekend and, well…

“I look forward to this week every year. It’s like I’m glad it’s here, but it’s also sad because in a few days it’ll be gone.”

A BIG QUESTION

What have we learned about tigers?

This time, we have been trying to read the tea leaves and project forward every year for more than a decade Tiger Woods‘ body, his health, his potential upcoming schedule. When he skipped the Hero World Challenge a few weeks ago, it seemed like a bad sign. But what did we learn this week?

Above all, it was encouraging. Woods completed 18 holes three days in a row. His ball speed stats were promising. He hit a lot of good shots and made a lot of clutch putts, and while it’s hard to compare that to the pressure of a major championship, there’s a whole different kind of pressure that comes from not letting your teenager down wants son.

But Woods was also careful to manage expectations. He said it was rusty. He said the cold weather bothered him. He said he was nowhere near ready for a tournament. He dismissed his good shots as “I’m a good scramble partner.” It’s clear that Woods doesn’t want anyone to think he’ll be in the mix at, say, Augusta.

Still, he can’t give up the idea. And it’s clear how hard he’s still working toward that goal.

“It’s about training every day, doing the little things and developing, and I’ll continue into next year,” he said. So what have we learned? That everything is still on the table.

ONE THING YOU SHOULD NOTE

Xander.

Our newest guest on Warming Up: World No. 2 and the world’s newest two-time major champion, Xander Schauffele. Want to know what it’s like to hang out with Xander? Here’s an hour on hooks, fades, mindset, process, winning, Augusta National, Tiger, his father Stefan and much more. Watch here – or save for later!

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NEWS FROM SEATTLE

Monday: Finish HQ.

Our Monday finish team (that’s me) has escaped to Southern California for the week, where we’re having a jam-packed few days of food, family, football, celebrations – and for December 26th. even planned real 18 holes. Merry Christmas, happy holidays and lots of love from the end of Monday to all of you. It’s a real gift to have you here.

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Dylan Dethier welcomes your comments at [email protected].