Charlie Woods Bounces Back to Boost His Only Chance to Make It to 2025 Junior Ryder Cup

Woods might still make it to the 2025 Ryder Cup. No, we’re not talking about Tiger Woods leading Team U.S. so Keegan Bradley can join the field as a player at Bethpage Black. Even though that would be quite an interesting scenario if it were to happen. It’s his son, Charlie Woods, who is making the headlines after a scintillating second-round performance in the 2025 Junior PGA Championship. The 16-year-old shot a 6-under 66 to push himself to the T7 spot in the tournament. He now sits only two strokes off second place. And that’s where things get interesting.

As confirmed by TWLEGION on X, a top 2 finish for Woods in the 2025 Junior PGA Championship would be great for him. If you haven’t connected the dots yet, Charlie will make it to the Jr. Ryder Cup 2025 if he finishes as a runner-up in the ongoing major at Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex. Climbing up to first place might be a tall task for most young golfers on the field. Lunden Esterline has a 5-stroke lead after the end of the round on Wednesday. But 2nd place is still within reach, and Woods is determined to have a go at it after the way he performed in the last round.

The big cat’s protege came off a heartbreaking run only a week ago after he couldn’t get past the first couple of rounds in the 77th U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. He finished T196 with scores of 81-74. That pushed him down to the 20th spot on the AJGA rankings. However, Woods still has a lot of positives to ride on after he grabbed the emphatic win a couple of months ago in the 2025 Team TaylorMade Invitational. With his father not around to cheer him on, Charlie is on his own in the 2025 Junior PGA Championship as he not only competes for a major, but also a Junior Ryder Cup spot.

The next two days are quite vital for Charlie Woods. If he is able to perform well and fight for a runner-up finish, then he will book a ticket to New York in September 2025. But if he does manage to join the team, then who will he be playing with? Let’s find out.

Charlie Woods’s potential teammates in the 2025 Jr. Ryder Cup

Charlie Woods may still be looking for a way into the team. But there are a few juniors who have been incredibly consistent in the past couple of years to have already qualified for the prestigious event. The Team U.S. squad for the 2025 Jr. Ryder Cup already has Miles Russell and Tyler Mawhinney confirmed. Russell has had quite a few top-10 finishes over the last 54 weeks and accumulated 2,115 points to top the leaderboard. Mawhinney sits in second place with 1,600.82 points.

Hamilton Coleman and Luke Colton are the only other junior golfers who have bagged more than 1000 points so far. There is a very good chance they might qualify for the Team U.S. squad along. Sohan Patel, who is in 5th place on the leaderboard, should also safely make it through as he is sitting nearly 400 points clear of anyone else. However, there is a very close competition between everyone else on the leaderboard as they all fight to be a part of the team. All the details were tweeted by the Junior Ryder Cup official X account just a few hours ago.