Charlie Woods’ bid to earn an automatic qualifying spot on the Junior Ryder Cup team has fallen short after a final round of 74 at the Junior PGA Championship.
The 16-year-old had put himself in prime position for a place on the team, beginning the final round in T2, with the top two US players earning automatic qualification.
However, following his second successive round of 66 on Thursday at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Indiana, he endured a more frustrating day on Friday.
This time, the action came from the Kampen-Cosler course, where Woods began seven shots behind overnight leader Lunden Esterline.
He had a steady start to proceedings, with four successive pars before his first birdie of the day at the fifth.
The dream of a top two finish remained in touch at the turn despite a bogey at the ninth to bring him back to even for the day and 12 under for the tournament.
Woods' position was strengthened with a second birdie at the 12th, a par-4, but he suffered a costly wobble on the 14th and 15th, first with a bogey and then a double to leave him on nine under and back in T9.
That left him four adrift of Giuseppe Puebla and Tyler Mawhinney in second with just three holes to play.
Meanwhile, his chances of winning the tournament were effectively over, with playing partner Esterline 10 clear of Woods and closing in on the title.
While there remained a slim chance of Woods being able to bag one of the coveted Junior Ryder Cup spots, it wasn’t to be, even though he steadied the ship with three successive pars.
However, ultimately he carded a three-over 74 to finish T9 and four adrift of second, which finished in a tie between Puebla and Mawhinney. Esterline, meanwhile, cantered to the title by six.
As a result, Esterline, Puebla and Mawhinney all make the US Junior Ryder Cup team, with the latter having already qualified via the points list.
In the Girls Division, Curtis Cup star Asterisk Talley beat Zoe Cusack by one. Thanks to their placings, both players have now qualified for the US Junior Ryder Cup team too.
Despite the disappointment of qualifying automatically for next month's New York match, Woods’ overall performance was highly encouraging, particularly after it came just a week after he shot 14-over-par at the US Junior Amateur Championship to miss out on the match play stages for the second consecutive year.
Earlier in the year, Woods won his biggest tournament to date, the Team TaylorMade AJGA Invitational, as his fledgling career, with the support of legendary dad Tiger, continues to flourish.
