"Blood Is Thicker Than Water"... Special Family Golfers Have Special DNA

Woods, Daly, Choi Kyung-ju "Our Son is Special"
Sorenstam, Korda, Jutanugarn "Sisters are Special"
Molinari, Hoeygor "Brothers Were Brave"

John Daly Sr. and Jr. have identical golf skills and appearances.

[Asia Economy Reporter Nowrae] Gene. It is a molecular compound that parents pass on traits to their children. Especially in arts and sports, heredity is strong. Golf is no exception. There are many players with uniquely special genes. Events utilizing this are also abundant. The ‘family event’ PNC Championship, held on the 17th (local time) at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club (par 72) in Orlando, Florida, USA, is a representative example. We looked into the special genes of ‘family golfers.’

◆ "My son is exceptional" = ‘Maverick’ John Daly (USA) is a prime example. Daly quickly rose to world stardom by winning two majors: the 1991 PGA Championship and the 1995 Open Championship. He was the first long hitter in PGA Tour history to average over 300 yards in a season. Daly Jr. was born in 2003 to Daly and his fourth wife, Sherry Miller (USA). He hits over 300 yards. Not only his golf skills but also his appearance and fashion style are spitting images of his father. They were last year’s winning team at the PNC Championship.

Tiger Woods and his father look and act similarly.

‘Golf Emperor’ Tiger Woods (USA) is also noted as a father-son golfer duo. His 13-year-old son Charlie is the star. He looks and acts just like his dad. He has remarkable golf skills. This is his third consecutive appearance at the PNC Championship. Last year, they finished as runners-up in this tournament. Woods said, "Charlie hit a driver farther than me two weeks ago," and smiled broadly, "The time when he beats me will come soon."

‘Tank’ K.J. Choi’s second son, Choi Kang-jun, is also soaring. He played little league baseball but started golf at age 10. In 2016, he won the Texas Junior PGA Championship with his father as caddie and posted strong results in nationwide tournaments organized by the American Junior Golf Association. Choi said, "Maybe because he resembles me, his competitive spirit is extraordinary," praising, "He is the type who overcomes crises well."

◆ "Sisters are special" = The original are the Annika-Charlotta Sorenstam sisters (Sweden). Annika amassed a total of 72 wins, including an incredible 11 wins on the 2002 LPGA Tour. She is the ‘original golf queen’ who held the world No. 1 ranking for 60 consecutive weeks. Charlotta played for the Swedish national team and then competed in Europe, winning the 2003 Standard Register Ping, marking the first-ever sister victory in history. Charlotta has been coaching juniors since retiring in 2008.

Jessica (left) and Nelly Korda are the most successful sister golfers on the LPGA Tour.

The hottest players now are the Jessica-Nelly Korda sisters (USA). Their father, Petr, was the 1998 Australian Open tennis singles champion, their mother Regina reached the round of 16 in the 1989 and 1991 US Open tennis singles, and their youngest sibling Sebastian is a tennis player?a true ‘sports family.’ Jessica initially made waves, winning six LPGA Tour titles. Nowadays, Nelly is the trendsetter. In the 2021 season, she swept four wins including one major. She has a total of eight wins, an Olympic gold medal from Tokyo, and reached No. 1.

The Moriya-Ariya Jutanugarn sisters (Thailand) are also impressive. Younger sister Ariya became the first Thai player to win on the LPGA Tour at the 2016 Yokohama Tire Classic. That same year, she won the British Women’s Open major and collected five wins, sweeping individual titles. She is a 12-time winner including two majors. Moriya won her first title at the 2018 LA Open and last year won the two-person team event, the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, together with her sister.

◆ "Brothers were brave" = Eduardo and Francesco Molinari (Italy) are famous. They opened the Italian golf renaissance era on the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour). Encouraged by their dentist father, Eduardo started golf at age 8 and Francesco at 7. Eduardo won three times on the DP Tour. Francesco won six times in Europe and three times in the US. Notably, in 2018, he defeated Woods, Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), and others to become Italy’s first major champion at The Open Championship.

Rasmus-Nikolaj Højgaard is the first male twin golfer in history to be ranked within the top 100 in the world rankings.

Rasmus and Nicolai Højgaard brothers (Denmark) were the center of attention a year ago. They are the first twins in men’s golf history to be ranked inside the world top 100 simultaneously. Born in 2001, they are identical twins. At that time, Rasmus was ranked 96th and Nicolai 99th. Rasmus won the Omega European Masters in August 2018, and Nicolai won the Italian Open the following week. It was the first time in DP World Tour history that brothers won consecutively two weeks in a row.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.