ORLANDO — Charlie Woods burst onto the national golf stage three years ago when, at age 11, he joined his father Tiger in playing the PNC Championship. This marks the fourth consecutive time Team Woods has competed at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club to end the year.
Over that span we’ve seen Charlie make his first eagle, shape shots both ways, display a mighty recoil with his driver and drain long birdie putts all while displaying many of the same mannerisms we’ve seen from his Hall of Fame father over the past 25 years. This year, now 14, Charlie stepped back a tee and is playing from the same distance as the likes of John Daly, Jim Furyk, Nelly Korda, Vijay Singh and Steve Stricker.
“I think his speed has gone dramatically up since last year,” Tiger said when assessing Charlie’s game. “But I think that more than anything, it’s just the fact that he’s grown so fast. The aches and pains of growing, just teenage life.”
Charlie is bigger and stronger. On Saturday during the first round, he carried a drive 320 yards, with the ball ending just over the back of the green on the par-4 12th hole.
“I sort of didn’t have the speed that he has at that age,” Tiger said. “But also, I didn’t have the equipment, either. The equipment is so different.”
One thing that is difficult to quantify from watching Charlie on television each year is how his skills compare with other junior golfers in the country. He’s seen alongside the most famous golfer on the planet hitting great golf shots, and annually, whether on social media or from people in the gallery, there are those who contend that he’ll have a long successful PGA Tour career and even potentially win major championships like his old man.
While that could happen, it’s also wise to pump the brakes and realize how far Charlie has come in a relatively short time. Afterall, he mostly played soccer growing up in South Florida and it wasn’t until 2020—when COVID-19 locked down the world—that Charlie found a deeper passion for golf and started to take the game more seriously. That was only three years ago.
“People need to quit comparing him to other kids who have been playing competitive golf for more time,” said a Golf Digest Top 50 Teacher in America. “People need to wait and see where he is in five years, 10 years.”
Of course, that’s nearly impossible because his last name is Woods. But the point is valid.
This was Charlie’s first year playing a full competitive junior schedule, playing mostly state and regional competitions.
Junior Golf Scoreboard, which has ranked junior golfers since the late 1990s, has Charlie ranked No. 1,326 out of a database of 10,616 juniors. He’s the 86th-ranked player in those same rankings for the Class of 2027. In the 16 events Charlie played that are recorded in the JGS system, he collected two victories and his low score of 66 came in September in the second round of the Notah Begay III Florida Regional qualifier win at Mission Inn in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., the same place where he shot 78-76 last month to help his high school team win the Class 1A Florida State Championship, which is not a part of the JGS rankings.
Speaking of high school, Florida is a talent-rich state that produces many Division I golfers each year. Charlie ranked 80th overall in high school in Florida this season out of 4,088 boys in the iWanamaker ranking system. He was the ninth-ranked freshman in Florida out of 657 and ranked 28th out of 1,420 in Class 1A, where his Benjamin school competes.
“Charlie is ultra-talented and while he is still newer to competitive golf he has the opportunity to excel long term because of the wealth of experience he can tap into and the opportunity to learn from the GOAT on how to play and prepare,” the aforementioned Top 50 Teacher said. “So many juniors never get exposed to that. In fact one of the things I’ve found is that young players who grow up around really good players have an edge on learning to play. He obviously has a huge leg up in that department.”
What will be interesting moving forward is to see how Charlie might compare to his peers if exposed to more national competition. To date, he has not competed in any AJGA events (he became eligible when he turned 13) nor has he attempted to qualify for any USGA national amateur events, most specifically the U.S. Junior Amateur, an event Tiger won three consecutive years from 1991 to 1993.
Mike Mulholland
Said Tiger: “I provide guardrails for him and things that I would like to see him learn and address, but also, then again, I’m trying to provide as much space as I can for him. Because there’s so much of the noise in our lives that people are always trying to get stuff out of us, and my job as a parent is to protect him from a lot of that stuff.
“Also, then again, as a teenager, I want him to try and become his own man at the same time. So it’s a challenge as a parent and to provide that—that atmosphere for him, to learn, to grow, and have that freedom, meanwhile understanding that there’s so much noise looking into our lives at the same time.”
A philosophy that appears to be working beautifully so far.
• • •
Charlie Woods, by the numbers
Florida State High School (iWanamaker)
-Ranked 80th overall out of 4,088 players
-Ninth-ranked freshman out of 657
-Ranked 28th out of 1,420 in Class 1A
Junior Golf Scoreboard
-Ranked No. 1,326 out of 10,616 players
-86th in the Class of 2027
Results of 16 events on JGS rankings
Jan. 7-8, IMG Junior Honda Classic (81-77, 21st place)
Feb. 25-26, HJGT South Florida Junior Open (75-71, 2)
March 4-5, HJGT Jensen Beach Spring Junior Open (79-82, 6)
March 18-19, SFPGA Medalist Tour (78-78, 19)
April 22-23, HJGT PGA National Junior Open (77-82, 18)
April 29-30, SFPGA Medalist Tour (75, 8)
May 6-7, SFPGA Medalist Tour (83-75, 15)
June 3-4, HJGT Major Championship (72-71, WIN)
June 19-20, SFPGA Championship (75-81, 33)
June 22-23, SFPGA Nicklaus Junior Championship (79-75, 20)
Aug. 2-4, SFPGA Junior Cup (75-68-76, 10)
Aug. 19-20, FJT Sandridge Open (74-79, 13)
Sept. 2-4, SFPGA Labor Day Classic (80-70-82, 35)
Sept. 23-24, Notah Begay Florida Regional (71-66, WIN)
Nov. 4-5, Notah Begay Junior National Championship (73-74-68, 35)
Dec. 2-3, SFPGA Tour Championship (69-73, 5)
(HJGT: Hurricane Junior Golf Tour; SFPGA: South Florida PGA Section; FJT: Florida Junior Tour)
Tiger Woods was a child prodigy. After he graduated from Western High School in 1994, he was chosen as the “Most Likely to Succeed” student. Despite receiving scholarship offers from many elite golf colleges, Woods chose to pursue his golf career at Stanford University, and is arguably the university’s most successful amateur golfer.
In the fall of 1994, Tiger Woods won the 40th Annual William H. Tucker Invitational, capping off an amazing start to his college career. He then proceeded to defend his US Amateur championship in 1995 at the Newport Country Club in Rhode Island.
Between 1994 and 1996, he attended Stanford University and won eleven tournaments. Woods was named NCAA First Team All-American, Pac-10 Player of the Year, and Standard’s Male Freshman of the Year for his outstanding collegiate career.
In 1996, he was named Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year and won the NCAA Individual Championship.
During his collegiate career, Woods also participated in his first PGA Tour major, The Masters, in 1995 at the age of 19. He was the only amateur golfer who made the cut at the tournament.
Woods then went on to win the US Amateur Championship for the third time in a row the next year, making history as the first golfer to do so.
Alongside these victories, Tiger Woods also took home the silver medal from The Open Championship. After enjoying two successful years in college, he started his professional journey in 1996.
The amateur career of Tiger Woods
Growing up in Orange County, Tiger Woods was introduced to golf at a young age by his father, Earl Woods, a single-digit amateur golfer. Tiger grew up playing golf and at the age of three, he played a round of 48 over nine holes at the Navy Course.
He was featured in Golf Digest at the age of five and won the Junior World Golf Championship at the age of eight in a group of 9-10 boy events. Woods had won six Junior World Championships, including four consecutive wins during his junior days.
He was the youngest US Junior Amateur winner, a record that existed until 2010, when Jim Liu won the tournament. In 1992, he defended his title and became the first golfer to win two consecutive US Junior Amateur titles.
That year, Woods also played in his first PGA Tour event, the Nissan Los Angeles Open, but he missed the cut. He continued won the US Junior Amateur three times in a row in 1993, and still retains the record as the only three-time winner of the competition.
Woods also became the youngest golfer to win the US Amateur Championship the following year. However, Danny Lee broke the record in 2008. He won the championship again in 1996 after successfully defending it in 1995.
Calling out Tiger Woods’ wife for being complicit in his infidelity, Jim Carrey sparked controversy.
The renowned comic Jim Carrey with a face as malleable as his, has been in Hollywood for decades. Often appearing in family-friendly movies, the actor has warmed his way into the hearts of stans with his loveable, goofy persona. But there’s also a shady side of Carrey that rarely anyone knows of.
Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey’s controversial side came to the limelight after he blamed Tiger Woods’ wife for being complicit in his infidelity. When the golf champ made headlines for his notorious scandal, Carrey had a different take on the situation where he defended Woods and instead victim-blamed his wife for being naive.
Jim Carrey Exposed His Shady Side on Twitter
For decades since Jim Carrey‘s rise to stardom, the actor has often come across as a loveable, goofy person, resembling a Looney Tunes character. Starring in renowned comical films and earning fame, the actor once turned into a part and parcel of Hollywood. However, eventually, Carrey lost his charm in the industry.
Jim Carrey is famous for his goofy and loveable personality
People believe Jim Carrey’s downfall was completely his fault because the actor went from the fan-favorite quirky comedian to a controversial figure after he exposed his shady side. While it’s hard to believe that a hilarious person like Carrey can be shady, it’s actually true. Over the years, The Mask actor has often showcased his darker side.
Carrey lost his popularity after exposing his shady side
Taking an example from when Jim Carrey shared his opinion on Tiger Woods’ notorious cheating scandal, the actor shared his controversial take on X, via Nicki Swift. While the golf champ received widespread condemnation and ridicule after his infidelity was exposed, Carrey was probably the only one who had a different opinion on the incident.
Jim Carrey Victim Blamed Tiger Woods’ Wife
Taking to X (previously known as Twitter), Jim Carrey expressed his entirely controversial take on the matter. Heading onto the social platform, the actor defended Tiger Woods and instead blamed his wife. Calling out the golf champ’s wife for being complicit in his infidelity, Carrey victim-blamed Elin Nordegren.
Tiger Woods and his wife Elin Nordegren
Arguing that the golfer “owes nothing 2 anyone but himself,” Jim Carrey implied that Tiger Woods was almost innocent. Sharing his controversial take on the matter and going against the tide, Carrey alleged that Woods’ wife was a willing participant to his infidelity. Stating that no woman is blind like her to overlook their husband’s infidelity, Carrey called out Nordegren for being complicit, in a now-deleted tweet.
“No wife is blind enough to miss that much infidelity. Elin had 2 b a willing participant on the ride 4 whatever reason. kids/lifestyle.”
Carrey blamed Tiger Woods’ wife for being complicit in his infidelity
Facing severe backlash for his unnecessary and controversial comments, the actor was branded a “12-year-old misogynist” by The Daily Beast for his irrelevant rant. The outlet also suggested that the bizarre tweets were indicative of Carrey’s downfall which also coincided with his split from Jenny McCarthy. Eventually, Jim Carrey went on to apologize for his comments, but instead dug himself deeper into the controversy.
Tiger Woods has a net worth of over $1 billion and spent some of the millions he has earned from golf over the years buying himself a superyacht to recharge on.
Woods has had plenty of time to spent out at sea on his superyacht over his recent years of recovery (Image: )
Tiger Woods has a busy few days approaching as talks between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour continue in the hope of confirming a merger with the DP World Tour after their self-imposed New Year’s Eve deadline was reported to be extended. After becoming a player-director on the policy board at the start of August, the 15-time major champion is closer than ever to the ongoing conversations about golf’s future as 2024 approaches.
Woods, 47, returned to the course for the first time since the Masters in late November at the Hero World Challenge. He followed that up a fortnight later at the PNC Championship, with more to come.
While the year begins with the Sentry Tournament of Champions, Woods has stated he plans to play only one event a month. February’s Genesis Invitational was suggested as a starting point, giving Woods plenty of downtime before then.
If negotiations go to plan, maybe a well-earned break in hotter climes aboard his superyacht is on the agenda during January. The vessel – ‘Privacy’ – is the perfect place to ready himself for the rigours of another season.
The superyacht’s VIP state room which is where Woods presumably sleeps when spending nights aboard (Image: )
Despite its name, what Woods has previously, in jest, called a ‘dinghy’ is far from subtle. It stands at 155ft with an almost 30ft beam and covers 6,500 sq ft.
Across its three decks are nine rooms, five for guests and the other four housing its nine-person strong crew. It accommodates up to 12 passengers, with all but two of them capable of fitting in the sizeable jacuzzi on its deck.
For those who cannot squeeze in, there is an in-built scuba tank filling station – Woods is a certified master driver by the National Association of Underwater Instructors – before braving the sea and the option of going down in its inflatable decompression chamber. Also aboard are three jet skis and two ocean kayaks to further explore what is above the water.
There are also two Vespa scooters in storage to zip around on when docking on dry land. Back on board, a gym with an ocean view lets guests take in the scenery as they run on the treadmill or put work in on the elliptical cross trainer.
As well as the various activities it facilitates, there is plenty of room to relax. It has a built-in bar and adjacent dining table to entertain guests – both built from stylish cherry woodwork.
It even comes fitted with a lift to traverse its three floors. But for those shorter trips, its transparent staircase makes a statement.
Woods even stays aboard during some tournaments. When the US Open was last at Shinnecock Hills in New York, he docked ‘Privacy’ in Sag Harbor for the duration.
Speaking about the experience, Woods remarked: “Staying on the dinghy definitely helps.
“It’s been nice to get away from the tournament scene and go to my dinghy and just enjoy it.”
The 82x PGA Tour champion is almost a half-century old! The golfer has shown the world his skills on and off the course, making him a multi-talented and multi-faceted person. Well, the two qualities even reflect in his different birthday celebrations, from spending his birthday on a boat fishing to throwing some vivacious parties.
On 30th December 1975, Tiger Woods was born to Earl and Kutilda Woods in California. Well, when we said ‘almost’ we meant the legendary golfer will turn 48 very soon. On the occasion of Tiger Woods’s 48th birthday eve, let’s take a walk down memory lane and look at the various celebrations of his birthday. The first stop on the list is Woods’s 6th birthday.
Tiger Woods’s birthday in 1981
1. 6th Birthday: At the tender age of six, Tiger Woods took tiny steps and started his golfing journey. His love for the sport is definitely unparalleled. While most of the kids of that age would celebrate their birthdays with a party hat on their heads, little Woods chose to celebrate his sixth birthday on the golfing greens with a club in his hand. In 1981, Woods was accompanied by his father, Earl Woods, to play a 9-hole exhibition match against Michele Lyford Sine in Redlands Country Club.
In 2022, just before the Master, the video was unarchived and posted by the Golf Channel. Little did we know that we would be able to witness many adorable moments of Tiger Woods — the cute face of a six-year-old Woods, his little sighs when unsatisfied with a shot, and see him being lifted up by his father. Although Woods did not take the trophy home that day, on the brighter side, baby Woods did get a piece of cake and celebrated his birthday with his father and Lyford Sine at the very same clubhouse.
2. 21st Birthday: In the 1990s, Tiger Woods had found two close friends in the world of sports who were more like brothers to him. Along with Woods, the trio consisted of two iconic basketball players — Micheal Jordan and Charles Barkley. As per Timothy Bella’s book ‘Barkley’, the three athletes “hit it off immediately.”
One surely can guess what followed when the three celebrated Wood’s 21st birthday together. Woods canceled his birthday golfing plans with friends, which were supposed to take place at the Grayhawk Golf Club, and instead chose to spend time with Jordan and Barkley in Las Vegas. Maybe the young athletes just danced the night away.
3. 25th Birthday: The new millennium saw the band of brothers once again as the trio came together to celebrate Woods’s 25th birthday. The birthday surely was a happening one; as per newsweek.com, Michael Jordan booked a suite at the Atlantic Hotel, which reportedly cost around $25,000. Mr. T. also got a DVD player as a birthday present from Barkley.
After attaining success at the golf course, Woods and friends gambled, played rounds of golf, and puffed some cigars. Surprisingly, Woods even dyed his hair blonde for his birthday week. That’s how the 25th birthday of the legend was celebrated.
4. 42nd Birthday: Along with his love for golf, there is another hobby of Woods that takes up much of his time; fishing. His passion for fishing could be attested when he called in sick and missed an event, but in reality, was fishing with friends. Another time, he missed 2015 The Open’s final round because he was spearfishing as he wrote on his website.
Time and again, Woods has showcased his enthusiasm for fishing and so, it was suitable when he celebrated his 42nd birthday doing just that. In 2018, Woods shared a picture on his X handle of him catching two big fish on his birthday and wrote, “Happy birthday to myself 🙂 Nothing like shooting a cobia and an amberjack.”
With only a day left before his 48th birthday, how do you think the veteran golfer will celebrate his birthday? Will he go for a night out with friends, fishing, or chilling with family? Share your guesses in the comments!
Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he does not like to participate in F1 tests. The seven-time champion has gone even further in exposing his particular phobia to the classic tests to improve the Mercedes.
During an event in Brackley, Toto Wolff, Mick Schumacher (reserve of the star squad) and Hamilton himself appeared before the assembled crowd and at that moment everyone wondered where the absent George Russell was. The excuse was given that the young British talent was ill… when he was not.
Afterwards, ’44’ took advantage of the juncture to make a surprising confession. “When Toto said on our visit to the factory that George was ill, something came into my head that had to do with me. That’s something I’ve done in the past to miss test days, as it’s not something I like. So when I heard that, I thought, ‘He’s outdone me, he’s gone to another level,'” Lewis said in a statement reported by RaceFans.
Lewis’ win drought
The fact is that the 38-year-old competitor needs to get his act together if he wants to return to past glories. He has not won a race for two years (his last triumph dates back to 2021, when he won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix) and needs Mercedes to get it right once and for all with the new single-seater. Incidentally, the 2024 W15 will be unveiled on Tuesday, February 14 next year.
Precisely, Valentine’s Day is also the date chosen by McLaren for the unveiling of the car to be driven by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
15-time Major Champion Tiger Woods is poised to help decide whether or not LIV golfers play in PGA Tour events in the future. Earlier this year, the American golfer was named the Player Director of the PGA Tour Policy Board to provide a more “player-driven” framework. Jordan Spieth, Charley Hoffman, Webb Simpson, Patrick Cantlay, and Peter Malnati joined him.
The directors have been working to implement changes on the Tour and their deal with LIV Golf. The last day to complete the PGA-LIV Golf merger is rapidly approaching. Their final meeting will reportedly take place on New Year’s Eve.
According to the Mirror, Woods will play a key role in making decisions about the LIV golfers. He could decide if the players on the Saudi circuit will compete on the American Tour or not.
Woods spoke candidly about the LIV Golf and PGA Tour partnership earlier in November. He mentioned that the player directors have been trying to ensure a better process as the final meeting date draws near.
Woods said (per Mirror.co.uk):
“December 31 is coming up quickly. There is a timetable there that we would like to implement some of these changes that haven’t taken place. All the parties are talking and aggressively trying to get a deal done. We’re trying to make sure the process is better. Implementation of governance.”
He added that player directors have been concentrating on completing the agreement, in the right way, by December 31.
“Getting the deal done, but getting it done the right way. We have multiple options, we would like a deal done December 31. All parties understand that. There are other options out there. As long as a player has input and has faster decisions, as long as the board recognises that. That’s one of the key things the player directors have focused on. The entire board has been accepting of that,” he added.
When will LIV Golf return to action?
The Saudi circuit is focused on the upcoming season amid its possible merger with the PGA Tour. Earlier this month reigning Masters winner Jon Rahm also joined the Saudi circuit, and fans have their eyes set on the third season of the 54-hole format series.
The LIV Golf will return to action in 2024 with the Mayakoba event, which is slated to take place from February 2 to 4. The regular season of the series will have 14 tournaments, including the season-concluding individual championship and team championship.
Here is the schedule for the LIV Golf 2024 season:
The 82-time PGA Tour champion has broken many records, set many up, and tied a few. However, even with so many achievements to his name, what Tiger Woods has failed to match in his 27-year-long career is the ever-coveted 18 major win record set by the golf legend Jack Nicklaus.
Hailed by Woods as a dear friend and an inspiration, Nicklaus is undoubtedly one of the best golfers in the history of the sport, and his unbeatable major wins record stands testament to that. And even though Woods needs three more to just match that feat, he once claimed that he had “beat them all”! So what exactly did the PGA Tour star mean? Well, as it turns out, Woods sees records differently than laymen.
Soon after turning 40 in 2015, Tiger Woods sat down with the Time’s Lorne Rubenstein and shared various aspects of his personal and professional life. Now, just hours before his 48th birthday, 8 years after his sit-down, one boastful statement he made still draws massive attention—his declaration of beating “all” of Nicklaus’ records!
Did Tiger Woods lie about beating all of Jack Nicklaus’s records?
In the interview, when Rubenstein asked the then 40-year-old if he had beaten most of Jack Nicklaus’s records, he responded with a bold, “I beat them all. I beat them all.” Woods, of course, hasn’t really beaten all of the retired golfer’s records on paper. Although in many areas the 82-time PGA Tour pro has beaten the 83-year-old, besides his major wins, Woods has also never won the California Amateur Championship.
What, then, did the golf legend mean by his statement? Well, as he clarified moments later, the PGA Tour star didn’t perceive records as they’re written, as stats; instead, he looked at them based on age. Hence, when he said he beat all of Nicklaus’s records, he meant that he beat the age at which they were created.
He explained that the records he looked at were “the first time he [Jack Nicklaus] broke 40, the first time he broke 80, the first golf tournament he ever won, first time he ever won the state amateur, first time he won the U.S. Amateur, and the first time he won the U.S. Open.” They were all time and age-related, and Woods wanted to beat the age at which the “best of all time”had achieved those. And he did.
Undoubtedly, Woods would still want to beat Nicklaus’s 18 major wins record, and if he does do so, perhaps the ever-alive GOAT debate between the two may come to an end. After all, the soon-to-be 48-year-old would have both the most major wins and the most PGA Tour wins. But is that really a viable dream? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Tiger Woods‘s life seemed absolutely picture-perfect until it wasn’t. In 2010, the 82-time PGA winner faced one of the most challenging periods of his life. Woods’s separation from his then-wife became one of the most publicized matters of the year.
Now that a decade has passed since the divorce, Woods’s relationship with Elin Nordgeren has seemed to mend up and turned out into something better than before, as Woods made an earnest confession about their relationship.
Tiger Woods’s relationship with Elin Nordegren after divorce
Even after the tumultuous breakup, Woods and Nordegren have consistently prioritized their children’s needs. While the golfer and the model may have been unsuccessful in the marriage department, the two have since come together and successfully co-parented their two children.
Six years after the separation, Woods unveiled his relationship with ex-wife, Elin Nordegren, to the Times on his 40th birthday eve. When asked about what would he have done differently in 2009 when the controversies engulfed him, he expressed his desire to be more honest with his ex-wife.
Woods then went on to continue to describe his relationship after the turn of events and said, “Having the relationship that I have now with her is fantastic. She’s one of my best friends. We’re able to pick up the phone, and we talk to each other all the time.”
via Getty
Furthermore, Woods emphasized that the most important factor in their lives is their children; Sam Woods and Charlie Woods. He elaborated, “We both know that the most important things in our lives are our kids. I wish I would have known that back then.” Nonetheless, the years have passed, and both have become best of friends and there came a time when their friendship took center stage.
Tiger Woods congratulates Nordegren between the game
The Hall of Famer, Woods, and his Charlie were playing the PNC Championship for the third time in 2022. It was also the time when Nordegren had her third child with her husband, NFL player Jordan Cameron. Journalist Jason Sobel tweeted about Woods and Woods Jr. congratulating Nordegren for the same.
He wrote that Woods and Charlie Woods had a camera on the first tee, and after the first shots, they turned to the cameras and congratulated Nordegren for her newborn baby. From exes to best friends, Woods and Nordegren’s story has seen many peaks and valleys throughout their relationship. Now they play their part in becoming better parents and providing a better future for Charlie and Sam Woods.
Will Charlie Woods be the next Tiger Woods? Dare we ask if he’ll ever win as many major championships as dear ol’ dad?
Charlie hits it a mile and employs an athletic and fundamentally sound swing, as well as many of his father’s on-course mannerisms.
But if you know golf and know its history, well, let’s just say Charlie will most likely win as many major championships as your ol’ man.
Maybe that’s a bit harsh. It’s not like second-generation golfers haven’t succeeded at the highest levels. Come on, it was just 130-some years ago that Willie Park Jr. won his second British Open and ran the combined total for father and son to six.
That was just 15 years after another second-generation champ, Young Tom Morris, won his fourth.
So, yes, we’re saying there’s a chance.
Charlie Woods has drawn plenty of praise for his golf game over the past few years, most recently at the annual silly seaseon tournament, the PNC Championship in Orlando, where he and his dad tied for fifth in a field of 20 teams.
This came a month after Charlie’s high school team won the Class 1A state championship. Charlie tied for 19th individually with rounds of 78-76.
At 14, he’s a quality high school golfer. But at this stage there’s no way to know if that’ll eventually translate to a professional career in golf or, say, professional life as a lawyer or banker with a single-digit handicap and occasional use of the “Reserved for Club Champion” parking spot down at the club.
Jack Nicklaus is the standard by which Tiger Woods has long been measured. Of Jack’s four sons and one daughter, Gary was the best golfer. When he was just 16 and playing for the same school Charlie Woods now attends, Sports Illustrated put him on the cover with the headline, “The Next Nicklaus.”
Given how prominent that magazine was back in the day, you think this put any pressure on young Gary?
Not quite. Gary did reach the PGA Tour and stayed a few years, which is no small feat, but the closest he came to becoming the “Next Nicklaus” was a playoff loss to Phil Mickelson at the 2000 BellSouth Classic.
Just ten father-son combos have won PGA Tour tournaments: Julius and Guy Boros, Al and Brent Geiberger, Craig and Kevin Stadler, Bob and Kevin Tway, Joe Kirkwood Sr. and Jr., Jack Burke Sr. and Jr., Clayton and Vance Heafner, Jay and Bill Haas, Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris and Willie Park and Willie Park, Jr.
The number of second-generation tournament winners seems a bit low when you consider how many second- and even third-generation stars you see in other sports. One reason seems rather obvious. In team sports, where you get a Ken Griffey Jr. or a Christian McCaffrey, the son of a former pro, especially a former star, is likely to get more consideration and more reps at an early age, and therefore more opportunities to succeed.
Yes, genetics also help.
But in golf and the other individual sports, results tell the story. It doesn’t matter how much cachet your name carries. Sure, the name will help a fledgling pro get a sponsor invite into a tournament field here and there, and one of those opportunities might trigger a breakthrough. But most likely, if the professional quality is there, you’re not leaning on sponsor invites very long.
Charlie Woods is obviously set up to go as far as his talent and desire allow — the best equipment, access to the best practice facilities and courses, and a pretty fair instructor across the dinner table.
That instructor defied a lot of odds along the way and did many things never considered likely, and some things never thought possible. Odds and history, however, also pack a formidable punch.
