Charlie Woods issues a statement after after being rejected from the US. A series of junior amateurs when he entered a brutal battle……
Charlie Woods issues a statement after after being rejected from the US. A series of junior amateurs when he entered a brutal battle……
I wanted to win’: Charlie Woods cries after being kicked out of the US Junior Amateur Series as he faced a brutal battle…….
Golf is a family affair for Tiger Woods, and now, apparently, something else: the USGA Championship.
Charlie Woods, the 15-year-old son of the 15-year-old champion, became the second member of the Woods family to qualify for the US Junior Amateur Championship on Wednesday night. The younger Forest shot a one-under 71 to secure medalist qualifying at Eagle Trace Golf Club in Coral Springs, Fla., for one of 264 points at the junior game’s most prestigious championship.
According to the USGA, Woods overcame a double-bogey start to qualifying by recording five birdies over the final 16 holes to finish first in qualifying by one stroke.
“I didn’t play well my first two holes, but I played really well the last 16,” the younger Woods said Wednesday. “I just told myself I wasn’t going to make any more bogeys or doubles and I used the nice birdies when I had them. Putting was my biggest strength today. I made a lot of putts when I had to.“
The only son of Tiger has developed a cult following among golf fans in the years since his parent-child PNC Championship debut. That reputation only grew as his junior golf career continued to rise in South Florida, but it also changed. After Charlie’s dazzling (and extremely tigerish) debut put his golf game in the spotlight, the youngest Woods stepped into the spotlight, spending the last few months as his dad’s swing coach.
“I trust him in his swing and his game,” Tiger said at last week’s US Open. “He’s seen it more than anybody else in the world. He’s seen me hit more golf balls than anybody else. I tell him what to look for, especially my putting. He gave me some little side pieces today, which was nice because I’m so ingrained in hitting certain wells that I tend to forget some of the things I’m working on.
If nothing else, the US Junior Amateur is a reminder that Woods’ youngest competitive career is moving forward. Charlie has had several unsuccessful competitive opportunities in recent months, including a failed attempt at the hometown PGA Tour qualifier for the Cognizant Classic. Late last year, his high school coach, Toby Harbeck, talked about his development as a player.
“There are certain pins you don’t want to go to, and he watches everything. If I can break him down a little bit on that, he’s going to be a much better player,” Harbeck said, but… “He’s going to be able to bomb it over 300 heartbeats. He has a different mode – sometimes it’s a nice easy swing and then sometimes he puts it in ultra mode and can just fly.
Now the focus shifts back to the Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan, where the younger Woods will play against the United States. In junior amateurs, father won the same competition three times as a junior golfer. Woods’ performance in his first major event is under the spotlight – and he says he likes it that way.
