Charlie Woods saw his US Junior Amateur Championship bid end in a playoff on Wednesday morning - with some inconsiderate fan behavior just adding to his frustration.
Woods was one of 14 players who returned early morning on Wednesday to Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to battle it out for just two spots remaining in the matchplay portion of the competition.
Attempting a chip out of the rough on the first playoff hole, Woods chunked his effort as a clear camera shutter click was heard in the middle of his backswing, seemingly from a phone.
The 17-year-old's response of "Really, dude?" aimed towards the culprit was quite reserved considering it's not exactly ideal to have that noise go off on your backswing at the best of times - let alone in a crucial playoff.
Woods went on to make bogey on the par five and was therefore eliminated from the playoff on the opening hole - when just three went through with birdies.
Two players then made par to grab the final matchplay spots - Hudson Kutchma of Westfield and Cincinnati freshman Eli Wessel, who will now face top-ranked junior star Miles Russell in the last 64.
🚨Charlie Woods playoff hole at 2026 U.S. Junior Championship at Saucon Valley C.C. phone camera clicks in backswing and misses cut 🚨 pic.twitter.com/1T709uo94yJuly 22, 2026
There was a larger crowd than you'd expect usually for such an early start - no doubt having the son of 15-time Major champion Tiger Woods in action played a big part in that.
But extra crowds and extra attention can bring their own problems, as Charlie experienced firsthand when a spectator showing they were either not a regular at golf events or simply forgot to mute their phone caused the disturbance.
It's a huge no-no clicking on a backswing and the pros have down the years been furious with fans or indeed actual on-course photographers for making noise before the ball is struck.
Woods took it pretty well considering, and even though he didn't make the matchplay this was by far his best effort in the US Junior Amateur so far.
He made a bad start dropping four shots in three holes, but was just one over for his remaining 33 holes and finished with rounds of 76-70 - a massive improvement on returns of 82-80 and 80-74 in the last two years.
It was not all plain sailing though, and during his second round Woods was caught on camera dropping an F-bomb expletive on the 11th after a poor tee shot. It all just adds to the learning experience for Tiger's son.
Charlie Woods didn’t seem pleased with this Iron shot at the U.S Jr Amateur via (mschmittjrsports - instagram) pic.twitter.com/ZIl9gCRsIDJuly 22, 2026
