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Hole by hole, for nearly 100 rounds, I have followed Tiger Woods on golf courses at the majors and regular PGA Tournaments.
Since Woods' car accident in February of 2021 when he broke his legs, he has played in just a handful of tournaments.
For the last two years, he has played at the PNC Championship, where he partnered with his 13-year-old son, Charlie. It's held at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club in Orlando is not your typical tournament.
Twenty players, who have won major championships on the PGA or LPGA tour, are invited to play with one family member, as a team, for a two-day event.
Last Friday, I followed Tiger and Charlie for 18 holes at the Pro-Am where they play a round with groups of people who have donated to charity for the right to play with the golfers.
The Pro-Ams are a great day to watch Tiger. The crowd is usually much smaller than a tournament round. He treats the round as a practice round and hits multiple shots on each hole, and plus, it is the only time you are allowed to bring a camera on the course.
The interaction between Tiger and Charlie is priceless. They wore the exact same outfit and talked and joked with each other during the entire round.
Some golfers have called for Tiger to retire. However, it is clear that the overwhelming motivation for Tiger to push his recovery is the chance to play with Charlie in professional events.
Charlie was simply amazing with the gallery and the older golfers who were playing in their group. He has impeccable manners and respect, and it is hard to imagine another 13-year-old golfer with as much composure playing in front of thousands of spectators.
Charlie, at 13, is no Tiger Woods -- who was winning national championships at that age and is considered the greatest junior golfer of all time, but Charlie is an excellent golfer who loves the game.
Charlie's ability to handle the hordes of spectators and media with so much class, is a good indication that he will be able to navigate tournament golf and the inevitable comparisons to his father.
I have always felt that one of Tiger's greatest advantages is that he is so accustomed to playing in front of huge crowds that when other golfers, even the top ones in the world, were paired with him, they simply could not deal with the distractions.
Tiger interacts with the crowd far more than when he was younger -- and his caddie, Joe LaCava, is a fan favorite as he hands out balls, gloves and towels during the round to young kids.
One of my favorite memories of this round was Tiger going over to his one of his playing partners, taking off his hat, and saying "Hi, I'm Tiger" while at that moment the amateur forgot to take his hat off and had trouble remembering his own name.
Tiger was unable to walk the course and drove a cart for the entire round. He was limping far worse than he did at last year's tournament or at the Masters; however, it is unclear if the limp was the result of continued problems with his right leg (which he almost lost in the accident) or from current plantar fasciitis.
He teed off for the first nine holes on Friday and seemed to have his old power and accuracy. While I was following Tiger during the time he had back issues, he was not able to keep to his standard routine of crouching down to read putts and seemed to have trouble just bending down to retrieve his ball from the hole, but on Friday he was back to his typical Tiger crouch for every putt.
Tiger, of course, is known for his putting and miraculous shots around the green. Just as I have witnessed watching Steph Curry meticulously practice before a game, their greatness is a combination of skill and lots of practice.
On each hole, Tiger and Charlie would stay at the green, chipping and putting from every possible location. It was interesting to see father and son try to best each other on each putt.
It is clear that Tiger's biggest challenge going forward will be his ability to walk a course.
I hope I have the opportunity to walk many more rounds with Tiger -- and Charlie.
Ira Kaufman hosts Ira on Sports Monday nights 7-8 p.m. on six radio stations in Florida and trueoldiesfla.com. You can also follow him on instagram and twitter@iraonsports.