With a seemingly endless list of wins, records and unforgettable moments over a professional career approaching 30 years, there’s a compelling argument that Tiger Woods is the greatest player of all time.
Even with his own career to contend with, though, the 15-time Major winner is dedicating plenty of time to the his son, Charlie's. Not surprisingly given his mentor, that effort is paying off, as the 14-year-old’s career continues to flourish. However, as Charlie began stepping out of his dad’s shadow late last year, a video surfaced that offered another clue as to why his young career shows such promise.
The footage concentrated on Charlie’s swing, and it demonstrated the kind of poise and control that would make many professionals envious.
But what was equally striking was that the swing wasn’t a carbon copy of his dad’s, but seemed to have elements of another of the era’s great players, Rory McIlroy.
Which golfer does Charlie Woods’ swing resemble the most? 👀 (🎥: @nb3jgnc) pic.twitter.com/Bko9hgAlxGNovember 8, 2022
A few weeks later, at the Hero World Challenge, the reason for that resemblance became clearer, as Tiger said to Paul Azinger and Dan Hicks: “I told him, ‘don’t copy my swing, copy Rory’s."
That’s quite the piece of advice from a player with nothing to prove to anyone about how best to play the game, but he then justified it, adding: “Have you ever seen Rory off balance in a shot? Not ever.
"That’s one of the things my dad instilled in me, is that you should be able to balance and hold your finish until the ball rolls and stops. You can swing as hard as you want, but you need to have balance.”
There’s an argument that Woods was being a little hard on himself, at least indirectly, as he’s hardly known for a lack of balance in his own swing, although it also shows that even the best would probably still like to improve their swing in some way. Still, as role models go, you could do a lot worse than emulating McIlroy’s swing, given the power and speed he generates from it and the success he's had.
Woods’ comments didn’t pass McIlroy by, either. Not long after, he appeared on Inside the NBA, and described Woods’ remarks as “unbelievably flattering,” before identifying what about his own swing Tiger likely admires so much.
He said: “My dad taught me how to play the game growing up and his thing to me was always hold your finish, and I think that’s what Tiger’s dad told him back in the day was try and hold your finish until your ball at least lands or comes to rest.
“Tiger's picked up on that and tried to instill that in Charlie. Charlie is a great kid first and foremost but he’s a great young player and I think we are all excited to sort of follow his progress and see how far he can go.”
A year on and the interest in Charlie’s career is as strong as ever. He will appear alongside his father at the PNC Championship between 16 and 17 December, where viewers can check on his progress, along with his McIlroy-esque swing.
