Tiger Woods and his son Charlie have smashed a record at the PNC Championship, despite agonisingly missing out on winning the event altogether.
Team Langer – a duo consisting of German legend Bernhard Langer and his son Jason – came out on top at the event in Florida, but Woods Snr and Jnr played their part in attracting eyes to the tournament.
It’s claimed by Sports Media Watch that the opening round of the PNC Championship commanded 2.92m viewers – a whopping 147 per cent increase on the year prior.
Unsurprisingly, the nine-figure audience was a new one-day record in the event’s 29-year history.
The second and final rounds would also score big figures, with an average of 1.42m viewers.
Woods, who bagged 15 major titles during his time as a professional, was competing for the first time since missing the cut at The Open earlier this year.
It was son Charlie who stole the show though, with the 15-year-old nailing a hole-in-one at the Championship.
It came on the 176-yard, par-three fourth hole at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, with Woods Jnr swinging with confidence, before reacting in delight as his ball eventually sunk into the hole.
Tiger lifted his young son in a big bear hug after the hole-in-one and it was seen that, in fact, after such an extraordinary triumph Charlie didn’t think he had finished the trick.
Commenting later in the day, he told the Golf Channel: It was a pure 7 iron so I just sort of made the stroke .
Down off the left, a little cut all seven. It was awesome. I didn’t think it went in. That is why I have always said and will continue to state I don’t believe anybody until I go up there and see it.
Tiger was beaming with pride when quizzed on the ace, saying: ‘He [Charlie) has improved in all aspects of the game. That is a guarantee to practice and grow as a player. I believe that majority of us tends to forget that he is actually only 15 years of age.
“It’s always been like this for him, he has been doing it in front of the media for a long time now but just imagine this guy is only 15 years old and all that he has achieved and more to come we can only think of the sky as the limit.”
He added: What a privilege it was to be able to share that special moment with Charlie, to get to make his first hole in one, to have Sam on the bag and basically just family and friends. That is what this event is all about. It’s not about advertising and the market but about unity and home.”