For the second year in succession, Charlie Woods will compete in the US Junior Amateur Championship after making it through a qualifier via a 3-for-1 playoff.
Five places were available in the qualifier at Eagle Trace Golf Club in Florida, and the 16-year-old was impressive on his way to finishing T5 after completing a one-under-par round of 71, with proud dad Tiger reportedly in attendance.
Woods began his round on the 10th tee and settled any nerves immediately with a birdie in his opening hole, before further birdies followed on the 12th and 15th. There was a setback just before the turn, when Woods made a bogey on his ninth of the day (the 18th), but by that point, he was already established in the qualifying places.
His generally strong performance continued with another birdie on his 17th of the day, albeit coming between two bogeys. That left him on the projected cut line, facing an anxious wait to see if he had done enough to book his place in the 264-strong field for the prestigious tournament, which takes place at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas between 21 and 26 July.
In the end, he needed a playoff, coming up against Oscar Crowe and Matthew Marigliano for the final spot, with Woods emerging the winner to join Arth Sinha, Lucas Gimenez, Sohan Patel and Wylie Inman, who claimed the other four places. The two who missed out in the playoffs will be alternates for the event.
Woods will be hoping to improve on his performance at the 2024 event, where he missed the cut after two rounds of strokeplay at Oakland Hills following rounds of 82 and 80 to finish 22 over.
A year on, he will surely be confident of making progress, particularly as it will come just two months after winning his maiden AJGA title at the Team TaylorMade Invitational.
Regardless of what happens in Woods' second appearance in the US Junior Amateur Championship, which Tiger won three times in succession between 1991 and 1993, his performance in the qualifier was the latest sign that his fledgling career is thriving.
The display also came just six months after he and Tiger played together in the PNC Championship, where they lost narrowly to Bernhard Langer and his son Jason in a playoff. While all eyes were on Charlie’s 15-time Major-winning dad that week, it was the youngster who stole the show with a hole-in-one in the final round.
Charlie also made headlines days before his qualifier by sharing a heartfelt Father’s Day message to Tiger.
As for what’s ahead for Charlie at the US Junior Amateur Championship, the first two days of action will consist of strokeplay before reverting to match play in the final four days, where Woods will be hoping to compete in the 36-hole championship match on the final day.
