With a dad who can make a serious case for being the greatest player of all time, it’s not surprising that Charlie Woods has been making headlines since beginning to follow in Tiger's footsteps with a burgeoning golf career of his own.
But how do his results stack up, and is the hype the 14-year-old is generating merited?
Charlie’s ability first caught the attention of the public when he was aged just 11 at a local junior event in Florida. In it, he shot a three under 33 over nine holes to win by five shots. Not bad considering that, just two years earlier, his dad had explained that he and his sister Sam were more interested in soccer.
Since bursting onto the scene at that young age, Charlie has had considerably more success on the course. Later in 2020, he appeared alongside Tiger at the PNC Championship for the first time, and they performed admirably, finishing seventh after shooting a pair of 62s.
The year after, it got even better as, despite Tiger’s long layoff after injuring his right leg in a car accident, the pair finished second at the tournament, two shots behind John Daly and John Daly II, including a final round 57 that included 11 straight birdies. The pair followed that up in 2022 with a T8 at the event at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.
Between 2021 and 2023, Charlie had already begun making a name for himself in tournaments without his famous dad alongside him, too.
In 2021, he competed on the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour in the Boys 11-13 category. From his six starts, he achieved finishes of T8, 3rd, 10th, 7th, 8th and 12th.
In 2022, Charlie again played mainly on the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour as well as the Junior PGA South Florida Tour, playing eight tournaments overall. In the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour, Charlie competed in the Boys 11-13 category again. In his four appearances, he finished 2nd, T1, 10th and 1st, with that win coming in the Major Championship at Village Golf Course.
On the Junior PGA South Florida Tour, he played in the decidedly more challenging Boys 13-18 group, with finishes of 22nd, T40, T23 and T28.
He also finished T4 in the Last Chance Regional for the Notah Begay III Boys' Jr Golf National Championship. In the tournament, he finished a highly creditable 11th in the Boys 12-13 category among the field of 32.
On the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour in 2023, Charlie moved up to the Boys 14-15 category, and finished T1, 2nd, T9 and 1st from his four tournaments. The latter result was particularly impressive as he cruised to victory by eight shots in the Major Championship at Village Golf Course, his second win at the tournament in a row, albeit in a different age category.
In 2023, on the Junior PGA South Florida Tour, Charlie’s eight tournaments finished T19, T8, 15th, T33, T20, 10th, T35, T5.
He also shot a 66 in the Last Chance Regional to close out victory and qualify for the 2023 Notah Begay III Boys' Jr Golf National Championship in the Boys 14-15 category, where he finished T17 with Tiger caddying for him every day.
While it's still early days for Charlie, and talk of him making it in the professional game, or even one day securing a Major win, is premature, as things stand, his results show that he undoubtedly has the potential to go further in the game.
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