During a period of Tiger Woods’ career where his injury problems have been particularly prevalent, nowadays, he's as likely to be spotted on the course supporting his 14-year-old son Charlie’s burgeoning career as concentrating on his own game.
There are plenty of encouraging signs that the 47-year-old’s guidance is rubbing off on the youngster, too.
Evidence of that could be found as long ago as 2021, when Charlie was just 12-years-old. During that year’s PNC Championship, the father and son duo teamed up and eventually finished runner-up at the Florida tournament thanks in part to a run of 11 straight birdies during their final round.
If that made the golf world take notice of Charlie’s ability, anticipation that he could follow in his father’s footsteps with a professional career increased during 2022 with more impressive form, including a best-ever round of 68 at the Notah Begay III Junior National Golf Championship with Tiger caddying.
However, while that display, which helped him to a T4 at the tournament, was noteworthy, there was even more to come in 2023, including in September, when he beat his previous lowest score with a six-under 66 on his way to victory in the 14-15 age division of the Last Chance Regional.
That remains Charlie’s lowest score so far, and he has an impressive scoring average too. Woods competes on the Boys 13-18 Medalist Tour where he played a total of nine rounds over four events in 2022, and recorded a scoring average of 77.67.
In 2023, he has been even better. After 15 rounds from seven events, Woods’ current scoring average is 76.67, leaving him ranked 71st – impressive considering Woods is on the younger end of the players eligible for the tour.
A slightly deeper dive into Charlie’s scoring average also reveals he has particularly excelled on par 5 holes, which is perhaps not entirely surprising given Tiger has admitted he has outdriven him. On par 5s, Charlie is 34th in the standings, with an average of 4.8 compared to an average of 4.4 on par 4 holes, leaving him 111th, and 3.37 on par 3s, which sees him at 132nd in the rankings.
Overall, Woods is currently 57th in the Player of the Year standings from a list of 282 players – a big leap from his T183 a year earlier.
With those encouraging averages and a new career low score in recent months, there’s little wonder there is plenty of buzz around Charlie, and not just because of his world-famous dad. While it’s still early days, it’s becoming increasingly clear that Charlie’s stats are beginning to match the hype.
