The comparison has been inexorable since the moment they both chose to pursue their fathers’ sport. The narrative only took some extra fire just after John Daly II led his University of Arkansas team to a commanding victory, just days after Charlie Woods‘s disastrous last place at Sage Valley.

Despite playing in near-unplayable conditions, Daly II’s team, the Arkansas Razorbacks, won their third team victory of the season. They posted a total score of 882 (+18) to secure a 12-stroke victory over runner-up Eastern Michigan. Four Razorbacks finished among the top 11, including runner-up Erich Fortlage. And among them, Daly II’s performance was most impressive.

He led the charge in the final round, and he did it with calm hands. He opened with a birdie, rolled off 11 straight pars, birdied No. 13, and signed for a 71. That left him tied for fourth at 221, his third top-five finish of the season. This win is extra special, given his sensational PGA Tour debut at the Puerto Rico Open a few days ago.

He made the cut as the low amateur, firing a bogey-free 5-under 67 in the second round to sit at T-7 going into the weekend. And it was only a part of his great season, where he holds the University of Arkansas record for season scoring average at 69.94 and the record for most rounds in the 60s (16). It was a fantastic start for him, indeed. But for Charlie, things have not been so great.

After officially committing to play college golf for the Florida State Seminoles, Tiger Woods’ son finished in dead last place (36th of 36) in the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, often considered the ‘Junior Masters.’ The collapse was particularly in the final two rounds. After starting the week with a 75-76, he recorded an 11-over 83 in the third round and an 8-over 80 in the final round, opposite of what Daly Jr. is doing.

But despite the noise, Daly II and Charlie Woods share a very kind and friendly bond away from the cameras. They have played against each other many times with their dads at the PNC Championship. In 2021, the Daly duo won the event with a record-breaking 27-under-par, edging out the Woods duo, who finished second despite a tournament-record 11 straight birdies. Still, Daly Jr. spoke up to defend Charlie Woods for their unique identities.

“Tiger and Charlie, I feel like everybody just put Charlie in this category that not many people get to until they are 20, 21, or 22, whatever it is. He’s just a kid; he wants to have fun, I guess. I don’t know him all that well, but I think people expect way too much of him for his age right now. I definitely feel some of the stuff he is probably going through,” Daly Jr. said, defending his friend last year.

Meanwhile, the elder John Daly has expressed his admiration for Charlie’s game while playfully acknowledging the competition: “All I can tell you is if Charlie can hit it as solid as my son in 6 years, then God bless him.”

They simply cannot stop people from comparing them because they carry such big and famous last names. However, the duel between Charlie Woods and Little John Daly is very different from the rivalry between Tiger Woods and Daly Sr.

Tiger Woods and John Daly had a different kind of competition

John Daly Sr. turned professional in 1987, nine years before Tiger Woods’ 1996 debut. While both became the biggest draws in PGA Tour, they first met in 1989 at the National Insurance Youth Golf Classic in Texarkana, where a 23-year-old Daly ‘freaked out’ a 13-year-old Tiger Woods with his distance.

Since then, they have met several times, but Woods has always had a significant competitive edge over Daly. At the 2005 WGC-American Express Championship at Harding Park, both of them finished tied at 10-under-par. But Woods won on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff when Daly missed a three-foot par putt.

So, Daly never shied away from praising Tiger Woods’s unparalleled dedication, famously saying that Woods would have surpassed Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 majors if he had remained healthy.

“But I think his feel around the greens when he was winning all those tournaments was a lot better than anybody’s. You could almost say it was better than Nicklaus’…. Tiger was always one, two, three, or four steps ahead of me in this game.”

Tiger Woods, in turn, famously acknowledged Daly’s raw ability. In a legendary exchange during the Wednesday pro-am at the 2004 Target World Challenge, when Daly asked Woods to join him for a beer, he replied, “John, if I had your talent, I wouldn’t need to [work out].”