Matt Kuchar and his son, Cameron, teamed up to fire a 15-under-par 57 on Saturday to take a 2-shot lead in the PNC Championship in Orlando, Fla.
John Daly and John Daly II will enter Sunday’s play in the 36-hole event two shots back at 13 under while Team Love, Team Stricker and Team Korda share third place at 12 under in this season-ending event that features 20 two-person teams – each comprised of a major winner and a family member — at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.
Both members of each pairing hit a tee shot, then use the better drive for both to complete a hole. Matt Kuchar, 47, admitted his teenage son, who qualified for the 2025 U.S. Junior Amateur, carried their duo off the tee as they piled up 15 birdies with no bogeys.
“I mean, it’s so much fun to kind of put a drive out in the fairway (and then) watch Cam smash it,” Kuchar said. “It’s not even a consideration of whose ball we’re going to use. So we have a lot of short irons in. Between his wedge game and my wedge game, we ended up with a whole lot of short putts. It was a fantastic start.”
Team Daly pairs the 1991 PGA Championship winner with his 22-year-old son, who plays at Arkansas and goes by “Little John” when his dad’s talking.
“He’s the horse and the saddle,” John Daly said. “That’s all there is to it. … If I could have given Little John a few better reads on the greens, I think we could have went a little lower.”
Davis Love III and his son, Dru, returned to the event after a seven-year layoff and put themselves in position to compete at 12 under. Team Love got into the field because Tiger Woods had to withdraw due to injury. That meant the family had to cancel their skiing trip, but it didn’t seem to be a problem.
“Bringing three little girls to Orlando is never a hard thing to do,” Dru Love said. “They’re always in to go to Disney World and Sea World and Universal is close by, and the awesome Lazy River. We’re going to go on the yellow slide later.”
Bernhard Langer and his son, Jason, are the two-time defending champions in this event, but they’ll need to climb over several teams to three-peat. They’re locked in a five-way tie for sixth at 11 under.
–Field Level Media
