Charlie Woods, son of golf legend Tiger Woods, celebrated a small milestone in his young golf career this week with his USGA debut. Accompanied by his father Tiger, the 15-year-old took part in the prestigious US Junior Amateur Golf Championship 2024, which his father won three times in a row between 1991 and 1993. Although he did not make the cut at the tournament in Michigan, qualifying for the event alone must be regarded as a great success.
Successful Qualification, Weak Tournament: Tiger Woods Experiences Frustrated Charlie
Charlie Woods played probably the biggest event of his young career this week as part of the 2024 US Junior Amateur Golf Championship. Last month, the 15-year-old won a qualifying tournament to secure his place in the event at the legendary Oakland Hills Country Club, which has already hosted six US Opens and the 2004 Ryder Cup, where father Tiger Woods suffered a historic defeat to Team Europe. Qualifying for the prestigious junior event should be regarded as a great success in itself and should overshadow Charlie Woods’ poor tournament performance. Nevertheless, it became clear in the first two rounds that the 15-year-old was unable to match the performance level of the top junior players and was visibly frustrated with his performance.
Tough round for Charlie Woods on Oakland Hills South Course. He won’t be around for the U.S. Junior Amateur Match Play.
— Pete Pappas (@PGAPappas) July 23, 2024
Charlie was under a microscope this week. Clearly frustrated with how he’s played. And has to be added pressure with the eyes of enormous galleries watching… pic.twitter.com/041nvGaxA7
After rounds of 82 and 80, Charlie Woods clearly missed the cut, which was four strokes over par, and finished the tournament after just two days (+22). According to spectators on site, however, the 15-year-old not only struggled with his game, but also with inappropriate behavior from fans, as he had already done at a pre-qualifier for the PGA Tour. Twitter user @conman-stalions, for example, posted videos of the tournament and wrote that: “Charlie Woods. Impressive young man. Hundreds of fans on top of him. On 3 Tiger politely asked ‘They’re on top of him, 30-40 yards back’. Fans were walking, distracting. Crying baby during Charlie’s downswing on 9 that led to a skulled chip over the green.”
If Charlie Woods dreams of playing on the PGA Tour one day, he certainly has a lot of work ahead of him. Nevertheless, the positives outweigh the negatives in his USGA debut: despite all the pressure and attention, achievements such as successfully qualifying for the US Junior Amateur 2024 are certainly impressive. A 15-year-old should not be measured against the accomplishments of a father like Tiger Woods.