Charlie Woods opened the Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass with a solid 1-under 71, leaving him tied for ninth and four strokes behind leader Chase Bauer. The dip set in during the second round, as he posted a 1-over 73, drastically changing things for the 17-year-old son of legendary golfer Tiger Woods.
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Woods finished the second round tied for 14th at even par overall. Starting on the front nine, he birdied the second and third holes before mixing in bogeys at the fourth and sixth. After the turn, he birdied the 10th, then dropped strokes at the 11th, 12th, and 16th before closing with a birdie on 18 for a card of four birdies and five bogeys.
The Florida State commit is still alive heading into Sunday’s final round. But it’s the same story that’s dogged him all year: last at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, a playoff loss that kept him out of match play at the U.S. Junior Amateur, and a missed cut at the Junior PGA Championship after rounds of 75-70-77.
Rankings slipped as previous strong results aged out, making his second round at TPC Sawgrass an indication of what the rest of the tournament may look like for him. In the meantime, he is four shots behind co-leaders Sam Carraher, Giuseppe Puebla, and Dawson Lew, who are all 4-under-par. So, if he wants to secure his first win this season, he will have to step up his game.
He wouldn’t just need to bring his A-game. He would also have to cut down significantly on the bogeys to have any chance of breaking that pattern this season. Whether Tiger Woods’ son can finally turn things around will be decided on Sunday.
The timing is notable, coming just days after TaylorMade announced on Friday that it had signed him to an NIL deal. With the deal, he joined some of the biggest names in the sport, including his father, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, and World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, who are all partnered with the popular golf brand.
The achievement at just the age of 17 made it especially remarkable, even though, given his last name and the hype around him, it shouldn’t really have been much of a surprise for most.
Despite that, the deal quickly faced backlash online from critics, who felt that he didn’t deserve it. That backlash adds another layer to Sunday, where Woods will try to close out the tournament without the late bogeys that have marked his first two rounds, and his season more broadly, after Sage Valley, the U.S. Junior Amateur, and the Junior PGA Championship.