Tiger Woods impresses on comeback: "The competitive juices, they are never going to go away"

Tiger Woods proved his insatiable competitive drive remains intact when he put together an incredible final round charge with his son Charlie and finished second in the PNC Championship in Florida.

Ten months removed from the car crash that almost cost him his right leg, the 15-time major winner showed he remains as competitive as ever, combining with his son to make 11 birdies in a row in a 15-under 57 left them two strokes adrift of winners John Daly and his son John II on 25-under par.

 “The competitive juices, they are never going to go away,” Woods said. “This is my environment. This is what I've done my entire life. I'm just so thankful to be able to have this opportunity to do it again. Earlier this year was not a very good start to the year and it didn't look very good.

“But the last few weeks, to push as hard as we have the last seven months with taking no days off and just working our butts off each and every day, and to have this opportunity to be able to play with my son and to have these memories, for us, for both of us, our lifetime, it's worth all the pain.“

While playing partner Matt Kuchar believes Woods is close to being ready to play PGA TOUR golf again, the former world No 1 insisted he’s got a long way to go.

“No, no, no, no,” Woods said. “I totally disagree. I'm not at that level. I can't compete again these guys right now, no. It's going to take a lot of work to get to where I feel like I can compete at these guys and be at a high level.”

Whatever about his misgivings, the Woods and son started birdie, birdie, eagle, then made 11 birdies in a row from the seventh with 12- year old Charlie doing much of the heavy lifting.

His putting was deadly but some of his approach shots were far better than his father’s, the pick of them a cut to five feet at the par-three 17th, where he rolled in their 11th successive birdie to give them a share of the lead with the Dalys on 25-under.

They were one behind playing the last but failed to chip close from right of the green and missed both birdie chances as the Dalys finished with a birdie to shoot 57 and win by two shots on 27-under.

“We thought we were probably going to have to birdie every hole on that back nine,” Woods said. “Or if not eight out of nine to have a chance and it turned out to be that way.

“We got to the last hole and even though we were on a run, we needed three to make a playoff or at least make it interesting for the Dalys back there. But man, what a blast it was, playing with Kuch and his son Cam.”

Pádraig Harrington and his son Paddy, who finished last 12 months ago, closed with a 10-under 62 to finish 15th in the 20-team field on

Woods had to wait 10 years, nine months and 30 days before he captured his15th major title by winning the Masters in 2019.

But while McIlroy has gone more than seven years since he captured the most recent of his four majors (the drought will be 2800 days if he finally ends it at the Master in April), he insists he’s not overly concerned.

“I'm still 32 years old," McIlroy told the No Laying Up podcast last week. "Phil Mickelson had zero majors at this point and he went on to win six of them at post 33 or 34.

"I certainly don't think my major winning days are over. Since 2014 I've basically won everything there is to win in the game apart from a major championship."

McIlroy explained that he would give away every cent he wins from now on as he seeks to add to his “legacy” by being more demanding of himself.

"You walk away from a T6 or a close call and people aren't really going to remember that,” he said. “At this point in my career, I'm trying to cement my legacy as much as anything else.

"I want to be the best player that I can be. And I felt sometimes that mentality of brushing it off or being a little bit too soft on myself didn't allow myself to be the best player that I can be.”

While McIlroy has sometimes expressed frustrations with the media’s focus on majors, he admits their importance to Woods came home to him earlier this year when he spotted that only the 15 major trophies were on display of his 107 career wins.

“I just looked at those and I said, 'That's probably one of the most authentic things I've ever seen.' Because all he has ever said in his entire life is, 'All I care about is major championships.’"

As for McIlroy ambitions, he said: “Billy Casper has had like 50 plus PGA Tour wins and three majors, something like that. Or would I rather have 30 PGA Tour wins but 10 of those be majors?

"I'd say, well, I'd rather have the 30 and the 10. There is a point where it's like - these are what's important. But you can't put too much pressure on yourself to perform in them."