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:
