Charlie Woods failed to make it through the first round of U.S. Open qualifying, after the teenager carded an eight-over-par 81 in Florida on Thursday.
Woods was hoping to bank his first major championship start at The Legacy Golf & Tennis Club, but failed to make his mark on the leaderboard. The 15-year-old – who is the son of 82-time PGA Tour winner Tiger Woods – made a bogey at the first, followed by a double bogey at the par-five second.
He steadied his round with back-to-back pars, before the youngster made his first – and only – birdie of the day which came at the par-three fifth.
His birdie however was quickly wiped out a hole later though, as Woods followed up with yet another frustrating double bogey. After making the turn in 40, the 15-year-old’s struggles continued as he made a second-straight double bogey on the 10th, before bogeys followed at 13 and 14.
A third bogey in four holes then came 16, before the American went on to sign for an 81. This is not the first time Woods has looked to venture into the top level of professional golf, having tried his luck at qualifying for the PGA Tour’s Cognizant Classic in February of this year.
Again though, it was not to be for Woods who carded a 16-over-par 86 after entering the first PGA Tour Monday Qualifier of his golfing career. The 15-year-old was one of 10,000 golfers hoping to book their spot at Pinehurst later this summer for the third major championship of the year.
One man who will also be taking the qualifying route is a former champion in Graeme McDowell. The 2010 champion’s 10-year exemption to compete in the U.S. Open came to an end in 2020, and having fallen down the Official World Golf Ranking in recent years, the Northern Irishman is now forced to enter pre-event qualifiers.
McDowell did so in 2023, missing out on a spot at Los Angeles Country Club via a playoff last May. One year on the LIV star has the same plan this time around, as well as taking the same route for the Open Championship in July. “I will go to U.S. Open qualifying and I will go to Open qualifying as well. I’m going to see, and do what I can do to get into these events,” he told Mirror Sport.
“Regardless of what anyone thinks, everyone of the 54 LIV players out here really gives a s*** about the majors. They are the most important events and we care a lot. From my point of view I will be working as hard as I can to get into the two majors that I have available to me.”
