Annika Sorenstam and Will McGee had a mother-son second to recollect on 18 Sunday.
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The query for Annika Sorenstam’s 11-year-old son Will McGee got here from Golf Channel’s Steve Sands.
“Do you realize how great your mother was when she was the best player in the world?” Sands requested Will in a post-round interview.
“Sometimes,” Will mentioned, flashing a smile that might gentle up the Ritz Carlton clubhouse.
Sands laughed after which requested Will what it was prefer to play alongside his mother at this weekend’s PNC Championship.
“She hasn’t played in a long time, and she still has a solid game,” he mentioned.
“A solid game” is without doubt one of the understatements of the century given Sorenstam is sort of undisputedly the best feminine golfer of all time, a reality of which Will is little doubt nicely conscious. But, hey, you by no means wish to give your dad and mom too a lot credit score, proper?
The youthful cheekiness, wide-eyed marvel and distinctive expertise of the PNC Championship’s youngest rivals has quick develop into a giant a part of what makes this week so particular — and so a lot fun to observe.
A yr in the past, the world met then-11-year-old Karl Stenson, son of Henrik. The quick wit and deadpan delivery of the then-youngest participant in PNC historical past made Karl arguably the preferred participant within the discipline not named Woods.
Karl and his dad had been absent this yr as a consequence of Henrik’s dedication to LIV Golf, however Will, whereas not with the identical chirps, had followers and his fellow rivals laughing and smiling.
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Which is precisely what this occasion — or any parent-child occasion — must be delivering: laughs and smiles.
Witness the sassy handwritten notes the Woods and Thomases left subsequent to at least one one other’s balls. Or the matching father-son outfits. Or the mid-round swing classes. Or the semi-serious evaluation of Will’s carry distances, which had been right down to the yard. (He flies his driver 167 yards, by the way in which.)
Sure, successful parent-child tournaments comes with bragging rights, however practically each competitor appears to agree: regardless of the place you end, merely taking part in within the occasion is a win.
Will seems to be at a main age at which to hitch this occasion. He’s one month youthful than Karl Stenson was final yr, and two months youthful than Charlie Woods was two years in the past.
This successful son at this yr’s PNC, Qass Singh — who after 16 tries lastly prevailed with dad Vijay — first got here to this occasion when he was 13. He’s now 32, has a full-time job after giving up on his pro-golf goals however nonetheless bombs it previous his dad.
Just as golf followers watched Qass develop up on the PNC, the identical is prone to be true of Will, Charlie, Luke Leonard, Carson Kuchar and different teenagers and pre-teens. They wish to maintain coming again.
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Along the way in which, there might be loads of memorable moments like Charlie’s first-ever eagle in 2020, or Sorenstam, as she did Sunday, strolling up the 18th fairway holding up Will’s hand. A ten-time main winner, Sorenstam has made loads of curtain calls, and despite the fact that she and Will completed seventeenth, this stroll ranked proper up there.
“This is another special one,” Sorenstam instructed Sands. “I was wearing my glasses, I had a little tear there. I mean, obviously, I’m in a different time in my life now and to be able to walk up with Will is just incredible. And knowing what the game of golf has provided to the whole family. And to be here in Orlando with friends and family watching is just very, very special.”
Added Will, “That was awesome with all the people chanting my name. It was just incredible.”
On many ranges.
