Top 5: Father/son golf pairings
There aren’t too many sports in the world that a father and son can play together long into their lives.
Slide tackling your elderly dad during a kick around or hammering him at tennis doesn’t quite feel as satisfying as it did when you were a kid desperate to get one over your old man.
But golf offers the chance for both father and son to play against or with each other when both are long past their sporting prime.
It can even start when the son, or daughter, is just getting into the game as a youngster, which double Major winner John Daly will demonstrate when he and 13-year-old son John Daly Jr compete in the annual Father/Son Challenge this week.
They will go up against 19 other father/son golf pairings in the scramble event at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Grande Lakes, Orlando, from tomorrow to Sunday.
Competitors will be vying for the Willie Park Trophy, which has been presented to the winning father/son or daughter combo since the tournament was established in 1995.
The fathers need to have won a Major championship or The Players Championship to be eligible for an invitation, while the son or daughter cannot be a touring professional at the time of the tournament.
There have been some successful father/child duos in the tournament’s history but which ones are the best?
5. Hale Irwin and Steve Irwin
Three-time US Open champion Hale Irwin and his son Steve came close to winning the inaugural Father/Son Challenge back in 1995, but they lost out to Raymond Floyd and his son Raymond Floyd Jr.
They would have to wait eight years to finally get their hands on the Willie Park Trophy and the pair will be looking to double up when they compete at this year’s tournament.
4. Raymond Floyd and Robert Floyd
Raymond Floyd has been there, done that and got the T-shirt in the world of professional golf and that includes winning the Father/Son Challenge a record five times.
The four-time Major winner and Hall of Fame inductee won the tournament back-to-back in 2000 and 2001 with his son Robert.
The duo will be eyeing up a hat-trick this week in Orlando.
3. Larry Nelson and Josh Nelson/Larry Nelson and Drew Nelson
Good things come in threes if your name is Larry Nelson. The 69-year-old claimed three Major titles and has also claimed a hat-trick of Father/Son Challenge crowns with two different sons.
The first arrived in 2004 with Drew and he then won back-to-back trophies in 2007 and 2008, first with Josh and then again with Drew.
With an entry into the 2016 event, Larry and Josh could add a fourth title to the family trophy cabinet.
2. Bernhard Langer and Stefan Langer
Double Green Jacket winner Bernhard Langer is still going strong on the PGA Tour Champions circuit and you wouldn’t bet against him adding to his three Father/Son Challenge victories this week.
He has already won twice with son Stefan (2005 and 2006) and once with Jason in 2014. He and daughter Christina could become the first dad and daughter combo to win the trophy if they emerge victorious at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Grande Lakes.
1. Raymond Floyd and Raymond Floyd Jr
It’s that man Raymond again.
Before Floyd senior claimed his two titles with son Robert, he formed a dominant partnership with Floyd Jr.
The pair were untouchable in the first three Father/Son Challenge competitions, winning all three from 1995 to 1997.
