Annika Sorenstam is back at PNC Championship, where son Will McGee is outdriving her

Posted by author December 19, 2024 Golf

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ORLANDO, Fla. – Will McGee views the PNC Championship like most kids think about Christmas. Wait all year for it to get here, and before the tournament even starts, he’s bummed it’s nearly over.

The 2024 PNC marks the third time 10-time major winner Annika Sorenstam will play alongside her son Will, 13, and this time they’ll play from the same set of tees. Sorenstam, 54, reported that Will hit one past her in a practice round at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.

“Twenty yards past,” Will quickly added for context.

“I do have to hit it quite well to make sure I’m past him,” said Sorenstam, “which is fun. But it’s one of those moments that I’m excited that he will, but then part of me is, Hmm, what does that mean about my game? I’m going this way, and he’s going up, and it’s just so. I’m excited for him.”

Will actually stepped off how far he’d clipped mom on the sixth hole during a practice round, yelling across the fairway, “Mom, I outdrove you!”

Now that Will is 13, he no longer plays alongside mom early week at the PNC during pro-am days. To make things interesting, there was a friendly side bet going on between the two teams on Thursday. If Sorenstam’s pro-am team won, Will would have to do the dishes. If Will won, they’d get ice cream.

The two teams tied, so Will suggested they get ice cream together and then do the dishes. Had Will lost, Sorenstam joked that she was prepared to invite the whole team over from PNC to dirty every pot in the house.

Mom and son have different approaches to the game. Will is more of a feel player, mom explained. He loves to experiment, hit it high and hit it low.

“For me, it’s like I’m not going to move on until I hit it perfect many, many times, and then I move on,” said the 72-time tour winner.

This season on the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour, Will won two events in the Boys 11-13 division and finished ninth in the Tour Championship two weeks ago. Mom and dad split caddie duties that week.

When asked how they differ as caddies, Will pointed to the fact that his father, Mike McGee, has more experience as a caddie working for mom.

“So it’s a little different,” he said. “I’d say Dad is a little bit better on the greens for reading. And then whenever there’s football on the weekends, it’s like a Sunday, there’s football, and so my mom never let me check the scores or whatever, and my dad would. So it’s fun.”

“Yes, I tell him to stay focused,” added Sorenstam with a grin.

While it seems hard to wipe the smile from Will’s face at this event, his father notes that has more a business-like approach this time around. He’s working harder now and is a little less excitable.

“Before, he’d be excited and giddy, and I could wind him up, ‘Buddy, how cool is this?’ ‘Yeah it’s awesome,’ ” said McGee. “And now if I say, isn’t this great? ‘Dad come on; dad be quiet; dad put the fries back in the bag,’ is the new thing. … He’s a typical teenager.”

A typical teenager who’s still having the time of his life.