Charlie Woods has defeated a collection of America’s top junior golfers on his way to his biggest success to date by far.
The 16-year-old son of Tiger Woods, perhaps the most famous golfer ever to have played the game, undoubtedly made his father proud with a final-round 66 to win the Team TaylorMade Invitational in Bowling Green, Florida on Wednesday by three strokes. Woods jnr can now call himself a champion on the world’s premier youth circuit.
The teenager from The Benjamin School – the independent establishment near to where his divorced parents both live – came into the prestigious event way down in 604th in the American Junior Golf Association rankings, with his best finish in five starts a tie for 25th in March.
There was an impressive victory in the 14-15-year-old category, as well as the Last Chance Regional later in 2023, but this was a huge jump in standard.
Yet despite the 54-hole invitational event obviously being for select players only, Woods silenced the mutterings of special treatment and emphatically justified his sponsor inclusion by leaving behind the likes of star amateur Miles Russell. He stormed through his six-under effort on the 7,249-yard Streamsong Black layout, that is longer than some PGA Tour stops.
https://x.com/TWlegion/status/1927792506072109065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1927792506072109065%7Ctwgr%5E7fe428b2d60c83c5dccfad8a51480e7dc301adf8%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fgolf%2F2025%2F05%2F28%2Ftiger-woods-son-charlie-wins-biggest-prize-of-career%2F
The fact that Russell was left trailing in seventh will certainly raise eyebrows. Last year, when still in high school, Russell became the youngest player to make the cut on the Korn Ferry Tour – the PGA Tour’s main feeder circuit – when he tied for 20th at the LECOM Suncoast Classic.
That earned him two starts on the Tour proper and at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and the Butterfield Bermuda Championship Russell’s scoring average was sub-70. Luke Colton, the 17-year-old who is another established member in the world’s top five, was also in the field and the highly rated Texan was fancied to prevail when he took a one-shot lead into the last round.
However, Woods, who opened the tournament with a 70 and a 65, made five birdies on the opening nine to grasp the advantage and then birdied three of his next four, before coasting into the clubhouse with four straight pars.
It was reminiscent of the great man himself and added so much substance to the hype that he had attracted since he first played with his father in the PGA Tour’s parent-child feature-piece – the PNC Championship – in 2020 as an 11-year-old. The pair have yet to win that event, but social media has long been in rapture for the swing similarities between the duo.
However, Woods snr has remained adamant that he will realise his ambition and eventually crack the big time if he sticks to being himself. “Yeah, I mean, I just am always reminding him, just be you,” he said last year.
“Charlie is Charlie. Yes, he’s my son. He’s going to have the last name and he’s going to be part of the sport. But I just want him to be himself and just be his own person. That’s what we will always focus on.
“Being constantly filmed and constantly just – people watching him, that’s just part of his generation, and that’s part of the world that he has to manoeuvre through. I try to do the best job I possibly can as a parent. I’m always here for him. But at the end of the day, I just want him to be himself and have his own life.”
