Three years later, Tiger Woods and Charlie Woods were so close to grabbing the trophy at the 2024 PNC Championship. The win would have been the pair’s first trophy together in five tries—they had a two-shot loss to John Daly and his son, John II in 2021. But despite Woods coming back to play after a sixth back surgery in September, Bernhard Langer and his 24-year-old son Jason secured a victory; their second straight one, making the 67-year-old a champion at the event with two of his sons. However, the aftermath of the win was far from favorable, as social media soon jumped in to accuse the German of cheating.
But before we tell you the meat of the story…This defeat was worse than any other one for Woods. In the 36-hole scramble tournament finale, the Langer pair scored a 15-under 57, tying with Team Woods, who were already in the lead. This forced them to take a playoff on Sunday.
As they approached the final hole, Bernhard Langer played from a forward tee. The Langers and the Woods team both reached the green, leaving themselves with similar-length eagle putts. However, it was the Langers who capitalized on the 18-foot eagle putt, heading straight for the winning eagle. But was their win justified? Well, not according to ESPN journalist Paolo Uggeti.
The controversy first arose when NUCLR GOLF’s official X account posted a video of the winning moment. Captioned, “🚨🏆⛳️ #WINNERS — Bernhard Langer and his son Jason defeat the Woods family in a sudden death playoff at the PNC Championship!” the video showed Bernhard Langer being cheered on by the crowd as he secured the victory. The veteran was then seen walking toward Woods Sr, and embracing him. Wholesome, right? Some didn’t think so…
While the majority of the comments were endearing, some started accusing the victor of indulging in an Anchored putt, a technique banned by golf’s governing bodies, the USGA and R&A, in 2013. For the unversed: When a golfer connects the putter to a non-moving part of the body for added stability and advantage during a stroke, it is called an anchored putt. As for what exactly fans were pointing out, was Langer’s hand seemingly resting on his chest on his winning attempt.
Notably, this is not the first time that the German has been accused of a similar act. Back in 2017, after he had won the Senior British Open in Wales, a similar controversy cropped up. Calling the allegations “hurtful”, Langer had said in an official statement, “I believe in honesty and integrity, and I could not live with myself if I broke the rule and did not incur the penalty. I’m certain that I’m not anchoring the putter and that my putting stroke is not violating the Rules of Golf.” However, he’s yet to react this time.
Woods hasn’t reacted to the situation either, and seems to be more happy about sharing the stage with his 15-year-old son instead. For the veteran, the goal was clear: Stopping Charlie from beating him over 18 holes. “He beat me for nine holes. He has yet to beat me for 18 holes. That day is coming. I’m just prolonging it as long as I possibly can.”
“That was the thrill of a lifetime to be able to have that moment with Charlie, make his first hole-in-one, (daughter) Sam on the bag, just our family and friends. That’s what this event is about. It’s about bonding and family…I know we didn’t win, but it was the fact that we competed. No one really made a mistake out there. We had to earn it, and that’s what you want to have. Hats off to Langers. They played amazing,” the 48-year-old said.
Having said that, after the 2024 PNC Championship winning video at Ritz Carlton on Sunday went viral, Uggetti took to his official X account to further address the issue. He shared a picture of the zoomed-in ball from the course and wrote on December 22, “I know it’s scramble rules, but we need to have a conversation about Langer literally teeing up his ball in the bunker so he could hit driver! The zoom-in camera did him no favors”. Later, NUCLR GOLF also shared the same photo, asking X users for their opinion…
I know it’s scramble rules but we need to have conversation about Langer literally teeing up his ball in the bunker so he could hit driver! The zoom in camera did him no favors pic.twitter.com/ftV38bGhDE
— Paolo Uggetti (@PaoloUggetti) December 22, 2024
The golf community seems to be agreeing with Paolo Uggetti and put on all the blames on Langer.
Bernhard Langer called a cheater by the golf world
During the final singles match against the U.S. team’s Craig Stadler, Bernhard Langer’s ball was near a water hazard, and a dispute arose over whether his ball had been in the hazard or not. The controversy stemmed from whether he had improperly grounded his club in the hazard, a violation of the rules. The situation became tense, and although some spectators speculated Langer had violated the rules, the organizers didn’t give him a penalty and they resolved the issue without any sanctions.
While this was a controversial moment in Ryder Cup history, it was not a cheating case, and no formal accusation was made. The matter was more about a disagreement over the application of the rules, and Langer’s actions were within the guidelines of what they allowed at the time. However, the golf world still remembers it. Resonating it with the PNC Championship incident, people left comments like, “He’s basically a cheater…why don’t people already know this? As soon as I saw them paired with Tiger I knew it was over. Plus, he plays from the Jr girls tees” and “He’s always been on the edge kinda guy. I still don’t like how close he “doesn’t” anchor his putter.”
Another agreeing to the same wrote, “I thought the same thing. Did he build a tee out of rock sand?”. And one of them simply wrote, “Langer is a cheater. Cheats with his putter, cheats in scrambles. Surprised he didn’t try to sign for a 42.”
In the final round of the 2004 Verizon Heritage (now the RBC Heritage), Stewart Cink was leading the tournament when he made a controversial decision. During his round, Cink’s ball came to rest in a sandy area near a cart path. Cink requested a ruling from the officials about whether he was entitled to a free drop due to the lie in a “through the green” area (not in a hazard). The issue was whether the area where the ball lay was considered a “buried lie” or whether it was a “hard pan”, and whether a drop was necessary.
After a brief discussion with the rules official, Cink received a free drop and continued his round. Some fans criticized the decision and pundits questioned whether the drop was warranted and whether Cink had received preferential treatment. Taking to this incident, one of them even defended Bernhard Langer and wrote, “Stewart Cink, circa 2004 Harbour Town, didn’t see a problem…”
What are your thoughts on Bernhard Langer’s shot at the Ritz Carlton? Let us know in the comments section below!
