Reunited
Tiger Woods and Fred Couples bro-ing out at the PNC Championship will make your day
Tiger Woods, Fred Couples and Justin Thomas playing a practice round at the Masters in a prior year.
Andrew Redington
We expected this week to be filled with Tiger Woods and Charlie Woods content as it has the last five years since the father-son duo entered the PNC Championship for the first time. We didn’t necessarily predict Fred Couples and Tiger Woods delivering some great moments together.
It’s rare we get to see either fan favorite on the course in general, let alone in the same tournament (the Masters, of course, being the lone exception ... until now). Couples is making his debut in the PNC Championship this year with his step son, Hunter. At age 65, he’s slowed down competing on the PGA Tour Champions, playing only seven events this year—one of which was a WD.
Of course we know Tiger sightings are just as rare as he played in only five events in 2024, one of which was a WD and the last three majors of the year where he missed the cut. Though he had a back procedure earlier this year, preventing him from playing in his own Hero World Challenge event, the golf-cart-friendly PNC is the perfect stressfree week for the 15-time major champion, especially because it means he gets to compete alongside his 15-year-old son.
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So both Tiger and Freddie are probably just plain excited to be playing in a golf tournament in general. But they appeared to be genuinely ecstatic to see each other on the range at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes before the PNC Championship on Friday. You can see it on both of their faces … two good buddies who don’t see each other enough these days. A tale as old as time.
Freddie told the media how Tiger had texted him ahead of the PNC to express his excitement that his old buddy would be playing the event for the first time. Apparently Tiger also asked Freddie if he’d play with Tiger and Charlie during the tournament, which Couples laughed off.
“That is not going to happen,” said Freddie, laughing with the media at the thought of entering the circus that is playing with the Woods’.
Whether or not they’re teeing it up in the same group, the two fellow Masters champions are clearly just excited to be in the same place at the same time, which would make any two good buddies very excited. And we were excited to be a fly on the wall for just a few seconds on Friday—and hopefully more moments will come this weekend.
