Bernhard Langer is an ageless wonder, winning yet again, this time alongside his son Jason at the 2024 PNC Championship.
It’s his sixth PNC title and fourth with Jason. This one required a 37th hole, as Team Langer was tied with Team Woods at the end of regulation. On the first playoff hole, Langer drained a long putt to clinch the title.
Throughout the weekend, though, people watching the event were noticing a sizeable difference between where Tiger and Charlie Woods were teeing off and where Langer, just six weeks removed from winning the PGA Tour Champions season finale, was hitting from.
Just a thought, but Bernhard Langer should probably be playing from longer than 6,000 yards…
— Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) December 22, 2024
The PNC guidelines for which tee box to use are age-based, with professionals between 64 and 72 able to use the red tee boxes. Langer, who turned 67 in August, was hitting from the reds, which are just more than 6,000 yards.
Meanwhile, Tiger and Charlie were hitting from the tips − no surprise − which checked in at about 7,100 yards.
Bernhard Langer playing shorter tees than Charlie Woods. Bernhard Langer won the season finale tournament on the Champions Tour a month ago.
— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) December 22, 2024
The PNC Championship is a wonderful event, with teams consisting of a pro who won a major or the Players Championship with a family member who cannot be a professional. Yes, there’s prize money on the line. Yes, there was live coverage on Golf Channel, Peacock and NBC. Yes, the competition was intense. And no, Langer wasn’t breaking any rules.
Langer has won like 800 tournaments most of them in the last 10 years and they got him teeing off from the fairway in this thing wtf is this
— Riggs (@RiggsBarstool) December 22, 2024
But maybe the extra attention paid to the different tee boxes shows how serious this event is now taken in the golf landscape. It may still be a “silly season” event but it’s no “slap and giggle.”
People complaining that a 67-year-old man recovering from a torn Achilles has too much of an advantage in an athletic competition is some sicko Normal Sport stuff, @KylePorterNS.
— Kevin Van Valkenburg (@KVanValkenburg) December 22, 2024
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Bernhard Langer was hitting off a different tee box than Tiger Woods
