The son of the 15-time major champion has already made a mark in the game, competing at the annual PNC Championship, where he’s been almost as big an attraction as his father. As well as that, he’s featured in junior events around Florida, where he’s competed against other players his age.
Here’s seven things you need to know about the son of Tiger Woods.
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Eleven years old, the son of a legend and upstaging dad while he still can play?
The entire spectacle of Charlie Woods’s PNC Challenge was incredible. From the matching body language we know so well to the epic mini-Rory swing to the composure to deliver incredible shots proved to be spectacular December viewing.
Bob Harig at ESPN.com took the best angle possible on the story, wondering if young Charlie might give Tiger the extra spark he missed in 2020.
Elsewhere, the coverage veered into excess and the kind of drivel you’d expect from social media accounts run by folks aiming to “skew young”, most notably the PGA Tour and Golf.com. Stuff like this dominated their weekend flood of Charlie posts:
Lee Westwood, recent Race to Dubai winner, called out the PGA Tour’s account Saturday night after the Tweeting onslaught:
NBC rode the lad harder than George Wolff on Seabiscuit in the Big Cap, but the coverage was largely tasteful. Mildly distasteful was NBC sticking Charlie and Tiger’s first tee shot behind the Peacock Premium paywall to pimp their latest streaming venture, but that’s ultimately a minor offense compared to what was witnessed on social media.
GolfWRX breathlessly started trying to figure out what was in Charlie’s bag—noted early on they could confirm 14 clubs, eventually posting his specs and brand of choice. I will not be providing that link.
I get that there is enthusiasm for the lad’s game. There is a shared communal excitement at the sight of a young golfer so impressively talented and already better than most of us. But coupled with the modern day need to express excessive enthusiasm like pre-teens squealing at a K-pop concert, it’s embarrassing. With ads being sold, clicks counted and “activation” points with senior leadership as contracts are up for renewal, it’s understandable why restraint goes out the window. But not forgiveable.
A couple truths on all the Charlie Woods #content. Has it been over the top? Absolutely. Has it made a bunch of young kids want to go pick up a golf club? Absolutely.
And just look at the absurdity of Golf.com’s stream at a couple of different points—including as I type this post late Sunday night—with a continuing stream of automated posts and other shameless profiteering in one last bid to prop up the 2020 numbers. This is from earlier in the way with a nice pause in the squeezing Charlie stream to hawk merch:
The Twitter-verse was abuzz at the sight of Charlie’s swing and warm-up session on the range Thursday next to Tiger before their pro-am round as if they’d seen the second coming. Cue the crazy talk that Charlie was going to revolutionize the game while breaking all of his dad’s records.
Simmer down, people. Charlie’s action shows raw promise and it’s evident that he not only has his famous father’s golf genes but his ‘feels,’ and perhaps most importantly, a love for the game. But let’s cool our heels. Let’s allow this weekend to be about a father and son bonding on the golf course.
The reaction across the Atlantic to the exploitative ways was noticed, generally found to be shocking in its exploitative ways, and debated on Twitter extensively.
It troubles me that this needs to be pointed out but devoting so much attention to a pre-pubescent, primary school-age child is not normal behaviour. Unhealthy? Yes. Unnerving? Oh, yeah. Irresponsible? Uncomfortable? Creepy, even? No doubt. But not normal.
Some will say it goes with the territory, that boundless intrusion is the price to pay for being Tiger Woods’ son. Certainly, and as he will soon discover, Woods Jnr’s parentage is both a blessing and a burden. It will provide him with opportunities beyond the wildest dreams of most children. It will also deny him – if only to some extent – basic privileges, such as privacy and anonymity.
This is key: where does the Charlie Woods coverage go from here? It’s hard to imagine he’ll be given space to be a kid given what we saw this weekend. About as likely as Tiger turning up in a blue shirt on Sundays.
And in the best summation of the weekend antics, there is now a Charlie Woods Tracker, called out by a writer who was one of Golf.com’s staffers oversaturating Twitter with “content” and called out for calling out the tracker:
MIAMI: Tiger Woods will play alongside his 14-year-old son Charlie this weekend at the PNC Championship even though the 15-time major winner said on Friday (Saturday in Manila) it could delay his injury recovery.
The 36-hole parent-child golf event will be played Saturday and Sunday at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, Florida. It will be the third consecutive start for the Woods duo, 2021 runners-up.
“Any time I get a chance to spend time with my son, it’s always special,” Woods said. “The last couple years have been magical. We’re looking forward to it.”
Woods said playing the event might set back his recovery from the plantar fasciitis in his right foot that caused him to miss his Bahamas invitational earlier this month.
“I don’t really care about that,” Woods said. “I think being there alongside my son is far more important, and get to have a chance to have this experience with him is far better than my foot being a little creaky.”
Woods, who turns 47 on December 30, has played only nine competitive rounds this year as he recovered from severe leg injuries suffered in a 2021 car crash.
After finishing 47th at the Masters in his comeback event, Woods withdrew after three rounds at the PGA Championship with leg pain and missed the cut in July at the British Open at St. Andrews.
“I played more this year than I certainly thought at the beginning of the year,” Woods said. “But I got the chance to play in three major championships. That’s far, far more than what I had expected going into the year. So it has been a positive.”
Woods is uncertain of his 2023 plans but hopes for a return to the majors.
“If I didn’t have the plantar feeling like this, I’d have a better idea,” Woods said. “I’m supposed to be resting this thing and stretching and letting it heal. But I’m not doing that at the moment.”
Woods, whose 82 PGA Tour wins equals Sam Snead for the all-time record, played in a 12-hole exhibition match with carts last weekend but still struggles to walk 18 holes.
“This off season hasn’t really been an off season. I’ve kind of ramped things up,” Woods said. “But after this, come Monday, we shut it all down and take care of this foot so that I can ramp up properly.
“I can practice. I just can’t walk .. I can hit golf balls. I can do all that. I can hit shots around the green. I just can’t get from point A to point B.”
Charlie Woods tweaked his ankle Friday, giving him a limp to match that of his father, but the PNC allows players to use golf carts.
The first thing you notice is the size difference. Charlie comes up to his dad’s belly button, a reminder that while he’s becoming a household name, the pre-teen remains a half-decade away from a driver’s license. The next thing that jumps out are the uncanny similarities—in their swings, yes, but more so in their mannerisms. The way they twirl their club after a striped drive. The way they recoil after going after one extra hard. The way they let their right arm dangle after an approach shot. Even the way they toss golf balls to each other, flicking the wrist as if shooting a three-pointer.
One thing is clear: Charlie has been watching his dad as closely as the rest of us.
“He’s been playing junior golf tournaments, and he’s been out in front, having people video him,” Tiger said. “This is a different world that we live in now. Everyone has a phone, everyone has an opportunity to video. He’s been out there. He’s enjoying it, and that’s the whole idea.”
Enjoying it, but also laser-focused. The competitive gene runs strong in the Woods clan, and Charlie did not seem to be in exhibition mode. He closely studied his yardage book on each tee. He discussed start lines and wind directions with his pop. He plotted his way around on a blustery morning, reaching the par-5 fifth hole in two (from a forward tee) and sticking his approach on the par-4 11th to kick-in range. And he even needled his father, imploring him to take aggressive lines and “fly it over the trees, dad!”