“I wanted to win”: Charlie Woods cries after being disqualified from U.S. Junior Championship.
On Wednesday night, Charlie Woods, the 15-year-old son of 15-time major champion Woods, became the second member of the Woods family to qualify for the U.S. Junior Amateur. The younger Woods shot a 7-under 71 in qualifying at Eagle Trace Golf Club in Coral Springs, Fla., to earn medalist honors and one of 264 spots on the roster for the world’s most prestigious junior championship.
According to the USGA, Woods overcame a slow start in the qualifying tournament to score five birdies in the final 16 holes and take the lead in the qualifying tournament by one stroke. “I didn’t play very well the first two holes, but I played really well the last 16,” the younger Woods said Wednesday. “I just told myself not to make any more bogeys or doubles, and when I had some good birdie opportunities I took advantage of them. My biggest strength today was my putting. I made a lot of putts when I needed to.
Tiger’s only son has achieved a cult-level of fame among golf fans in the years since his debut at the PNC Fathers and Sons Championship. That fame has only grown as his junior golf career has continued to take off in Southern Florida, but it’s also transitioned. After Charlie’s dazzling (and eerily Tigeresque) debut brought his golf game into focus, the youngest Woods has shifted in the spotlight, spending the last several months as his father’s swing coach du jour. “I trust him with my swing and my game,” Tiger said last week at the U.S. Open. “He saw it more than anyone else in the world. He has seen me hit more golf balls than anyone else and I tell him what to look out for especially when putting. He gave me some extra points today, which was nice, because I’m so busy trying to make certain putts on certain pins that I forget about some of the things I’m working on.
At least the U.S. Junior Amateur is a reminder that the young Woods’ sports career continues. Charlie has had limited opportunities in recent months, including failing to qualify on Monday for the Cognizant Classic, his home event on the PGA Tour. At the end of last year, his coach of Lycéetobyharbek talked about his development as a player.
“There is a specific pin that you don’t want to follow, he attacks everything. “If we can get him out of that pain a little bit, he’ll be a better player,” Hrbek said, but… “He can hit 300-plus shots in the blink of an eye. He has different modes. Sometimes it’s a nice easy swing, and sometimes he goes into ultra mode and just lets it fly.”
Now the focus shifts again to Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan, where the young Woods will play in the U.S. Junior Amateur, the same tournament his father won three times as a junior golfer. Woods’ performance will be scrutinized in his first major tournament, but he says that’s just what he likes.