There were swings and smiles. Thoughts and tears. And just two bogeys. Tiger and Charlie may not have been around, but the PNC Championship played on, complete once again with all the competitiveness and cuteness that its pro-and-relative scramble format provides, along with a first-time winner in Team Kuchar (pro Matt and son Cameron). Notably, the PNC is also the last event of the major pro golf tournament calendar, so it also offers a chance to reflect. Here, then, to go back and forth about it all are GOLF staffers Josh Schrock and Nick Piastowski.
Nick Piastowski (@nickpia): Hey, Josh! Happy holidays, man! Let’s start this with a fun one. You’re invited to the PNC. Who are you taking, what would you shoot and whose shots would you use the most?
Josh Schrock (@Schrock_And_Awe): Hey, Nick! It’s always nice to put a bow on the golf season with the PNC. Truly the best kind of hit-and-giggle, even when Tiger and Charlie aren’t around. I’d love to say I have a ringer in my family to help Team Schrock hoist a trophy, but it would probably be my mom and me. We’d unfortunately use most of my wayward shots en route to a ghastly number that would see us well behind Team Kuchar and Team Korda. What about you?
Piastowski: I’m going to cheat on this and say my dad, who’s sadly no longer with us. But I’m going with Mr. P because way back when, we did play in a player-parent scramble when I was in high school — and we sorta cheated on the last hole. We had bet the other team on the final hole that we’d better their score, and, when we were greenside, my dad picked up his ball and threw it, thinking that would help, but I somehow hit it closer than his toss. So maybe that’s not cheating. I dunno. All right, what’s your big takeaway from the PNC week?
Schrock: For me, the big takeaway is just that this is the best way to cap the pro golf season. As our colleague Sean Zak noted this week, the fall schedule is no longer “silly season” due to the stakes, but it is nice to have a fun event with a range of personalities.
Piastowski: Agreed. Things may get reshuffled in pro golf, but this one has to stay. There’s a nice mix of seriousness and not-so-seriousness, and that should be the way you end a year. What was your favorite moment this week, be it a swing, a comment or a moment?
