After a tense day in Florida, it eventually ended with Charlie Woods booking his spot at the US Junior Amateur for a third straight time.
Taking place at Heathrow (Florida) Country Club, the son of 15-time Major winner, Tiger Woods, carded a three-under-par round of 68 in regulation play at the qualifier, which was good enough to get him in a playoff.
In that 2-for-1 playoff against Eric Zhao, it was Woods who got the upper hand, as the 17-year-old punched his ticket to the US Junior Amateur at Saucon Valley in Pennsylvania on July 20-25th.
Among those who also qualified at Heathrow Country Club were David Kim, Phillip Dunham, Alexander Pendry and Arnold Pouncy, with Woods joining them after his playoff success.
Certainly, the American will be hoping his fortunes at the prestigious junior amateur event change, having missed the cut both times in 2024 and 2025.
Carding rounds of 80 and 82 at Oakland Hills to miss the cut in 2024, Woods then teed it up at Trinity Forest but struggled once again, firing rounds of 81 and 74, failing to make it into the match play portion of the tournament.
Although Charlie will be there, it's unclear as to whether Tiger will be present at the US Junior Amateur in July, as the 50-year-old continues his rehab treatment in Switzerland.
Tiger had been present at both Charlie's tournaments in 2024 and 2025, and the former is a three-time winner of the event, claiming victories in 1991, 1992 and 1993. He is the only player to ever accomplish the feat.
So far, in 2026, Charlie has produced some good results. At the Team TaylorMade Invitational, where he was defending champion, he finished T28th, while he was also inside the top 20 at the Junior Orange Bowl in January.
At the end of 2025, he also played a pivotal role in his Benjamin School's victory at the Florida Class 1A State Championship, where he finished the individual standings fourth via rounds of 72 and 68.
