Irish Golf Desk

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Harringtons happy as Cinks open with stunning 57 at PNC Championship

Pádraig Harrington was proud of son Ciarán on his competitive debut as they teamed up to open with a five-under 67 in the PNC Championship in Orlando.

Matt Kuchar and son Cameron lead the field by three shots after a stunning opening round of 57, the largest 18-hole lead in PNC Championship history.

But the Harringtons also had their moments with Ciaran (17) making a several good putts - one of which spectacularly bounced off the back of the cup before dropping - in his first competitive golf event just weeks after returning to practice having broken his leg playing rugby.

“He did great,” Harrington tweeted. “It was a real pleasure playing with @Anikasorenstam1 and her son Will, who also played great shooting 10 under.”

The Harringtons are 17th in the 20-team field while Tiger Woods and his son Charlie are tied 11th after carding an eight-under 64 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando.

Four-time winner Bernhard Langer and son Jason lie in joint second place alongside defending champions Vijay and Qass Singh, David and Brady Duval and Retief and Leo Goosen.

Wood and son Charlie closed with back-to-back birdies to shoot an 8-under 64 and sit in tied 11th.

On having daughter Sam on the bag for the first time, Woods said: “Sam was fantastic. This is the first time she's ever done this, so it couldn't have been any more special for all of us.

“For me to have both my kids inside the ropes like this and participating and playing and being part of the game of golf like this, it couldn't have been more special for me, and I know that we do this a lot at home, needle each other and have a great time. But it was more special to do it in a tournament like this.”

Asked what he most admires about his dad, Charlie added: “His persistence, and how he keeps coming back after his back, which I was kind of too young to see, and now with his leg, now I can experience it with him more.

“I've kind of learned how hard it is to come back from injury, and I thought that was pretty cool.”