From preferring soccer over golf when he was younger to playing his first PGA Tour pre-qualifier event in February 2024, Charlie Woods has come a long way. So, as Tiger Woods returned to the Masters this year – an event steeped in tradition – almost everyone expected his 15-year-old to be there with him. However, that wasn’t the case, and the 15-time major champion explained why.

Once a golfer wins the Masters, they become an honorary member of the Augusta National Golf Club. Because of that, they can set up a round of gold whenever the course is open for regular play. While Charlie has tagged along with his father on previous occasions, he wasn’t there this year when Tiger played the course last weekend. Referring to something the 48-year-old said last year, a reporter mentioned Charlie during the Masters press conference.

They asked, “I think last year you talked about bringing your son here and sharing memories with him. How often do you bring him here to play, and how often does he ask to come?” Tiger Woods replied, “We haven’t played together in a couple years now.” When the five-time Masters champion visited Augusta last weekend, he played alongside his caddie Lance Bennett, Justin Thomas, and close confidante Rob McNamara. Woods explained, “I came up here last weekend. He wanted to be at home.”

“So I came up here and got a chance to play with the chairman and Rob and JT, and we had just an absolute blast,” he added. Addressing the part about sharing memories with Charlie, Woods said, “I would like to, obviously, play a little bit more up here with him and to share the experiences. Especially now that he’s got a little bit longer so he hits it past me.” It was evident that Woods missed his son during that excursion, even if he had a fantastic time with his buddies, just like the father-son duo did in 2022 – an Augusta experience that Woods admitted “meant a lot to both of us.

After his 2021 car crash, that was the first time he returned to Augusta to play. And with Tiger and Charlie was Justin Thomas. Describing what that feeling to play with his son at the iconic course was like, Woods said, “[Charlie] had a chance to play right before the ’20 Masters, and he’s grown a lot since then, become a lot better player. It was fun to see the changes in him and for us as a family to go out here and have Robbie out here and JT, and just play together. We just had a blast.”

Since that 2022 outing, Charlie Woods has grown a lot more, both in terms of his physique and his ball-hitting ability, so much so that his father joked during the recent press conference, “I think that the days of playing from the members’ tees are over. He’s got to come back there with us.” With the 15-year-old not making an appearance at the ANGC last weekend, it put into question his attendance for Wednesday’s Par 3 Contest as a caddie for Tiger. Speaking of being on the same team…

When did Charlie and Tiger Woods last play together?

The last time Tiger Woods and his son Charlie played together was at the PNC Championship in 2023. They might not have won, but they were, without a doubt, the highlights of the last round at the Orlando Ritz-Carlton Golf Club. While Bernhard Langer and his son Jason took home the trophy with a dominant final round, Team Woods tied for fifth place, showing not only Charlie’s noteworthy talent but also Tiger’s exciting return to competitive golf.

The then 14-year-old Charlie Woods impressed all through the competition. He showed a remarkable touch on the greens and drove the ball 355 yards. His chip-in birdie, however, which included a celebratory fist pump emulating his father’s famous actions from his heyday, was the highlight.

Tiger Woods may have found his form again, and Charlie Woods showed signs of a bright future at the PNC Championship. We hope he can replicate some of that form now, a few days before the Masters, as it was some of his best work since his return following the injury. However, his performance, as of now, is purely up to speculation.

Charlie Woods carded mediocre rounds of 78, 81 and 78 on his American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) debut at the Will Lowery Junior Championship.

Charlie finished the 54-hole event at Carolina Trace Country Club on 21-over par.

That left him T32 in the 51-player field.

Patmom Malcom ran away with the tournament by eight strokes on 7-under par following rounds of 69, 70 and 70.

Charlie, who turned 15 in February, received a sponsor’s invite into the tournament.

Tiger was spotted supporting Charlie in his maiden event on the circuit that he dominated as a junior.

The 15-time major champion had to rush back from the Bahamas to be there after holding secret talks with LIV Golf chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan earlier this week.

Charlie made birdies at the 6th, 7th and 14th, but he also threw in five bogeys and two consecutive double-bogeys at the 2nd and 3rd en route to an opening 6-over 78.

It left Charlie in the middle of the pack.

Charlie once again struggled in the second round with eight bogeys and a double bogey at the par-4 5th.

His sole birdie came at the par-4 4th.

Charlie found himself at 15-over par in T40 with one round left to play on Sunday.

The swing and follow-through happened around 8 a.m. ET Thursday morning at a pre-qualifying event in Florida. The PGA Tour quickly captured it.

It was a nice swing, one we have seen before. How could we miss it?

It was Charlie Woods’ first attempt at qualifying for a tour event. Users on social media sensed the moment, too, but they weren’t nearly as nostalgic.

“You know you guys have an actual event starting today,” came the first comment on X, formerly Twitter.

“Leave the kid alone,” said another post.

Some wondered why Woods wasn’t in school. Others wanted to know where they could watch him on television. Some even used profanity, stated or implied, in an effort to tamp down the expectations, or even to take a cheap shot at Woods.

Back the efff off

Garbage ass swing and score …

Kid is trash!!

Would anyone say that about your child if he or she had won the high school golf state championship?

Tiger Woods’ son is 15. He wound up shooting a 16-over-86, finishing 64^th in the field. He won’t advance to Monday’s open qualifier and, mercifully for now, his first event on the PGA Tour will have to wait.

If you are a parent, and you have attached expectations to your kid’s sporting achievements, you can exhale. Your son or daughter, perhaps no one’s son or daughter, is facing the pressure to succeed — or to fail — the way Charlie Woods is.

He has shown us he is a strong player, winning that state championship in Florida and putting up highlight-reel shots playing alongside his father in the PNC Championship.

And yet, it may not ever be good enough for us.

Forget unrealistic expectations. These expectations are impossible.

They can serve as a reminder for all sports parents of how lucky we are. We have the opportunity to see our kids play every week, sometimes every day, without the world watching his or her every move.

If Charlie Woods was your kid, and you knew the pressure he was facing, would you be critical of him? Would you tell him the things he might do differently in all those games you watch? Or would you cherish every moment you had to watch him proudly following in your enormous shadow?

The best example we can set for our kids isn’t necessarily in doing what we’re best at. It’s how we act and behave and carry ourselves on a daily basis. It’s in letting our kids be kids as long as they can, no matter how far their careers take them. And it’s laying off of them when they don’t play up to our expectations.

Yes, this is Tiger Woods, winner of 15 major championships and 82 PGA Tour events. But as far as being a dad, he seems a lot like any of us in looking out for his son.

“I just don’t like the fact that he stares at his phone all the time,’’ Tiger Woods said in December, according to Sports Illustrated. “Put your phone away and just look around. That’s one of the things that I think all parents struggle with is most kids don’t look up anymore. Everyone is looking down.

“Look around you, the world is so beautiful around you, just look up. But everyone is staring into a screen, and that’s how people view life. It drives me nuts at times because he’s always looking down and there’s so many things around you that are so beautiful at the same time.”

When you observe the relationship, even in the snippets of it we get to see in public, you see that they are two exceptional golfers but a father and a son first.

Woods kept his son away from interviews at the PNC Championship, but Charlie stopped at the turn to answer questions from Will McGee, the 12-year-old son of two other golfers, Mike McGee and Annika Sorenstam.

“My mom was wondering, because she gives me advice on my swing but I don’t listen often. … Do you listen to your dad on swing tips?” Will asked.

“It doesn’t happen very often,” Charlie responded. “I mean, when I get desperate, yeah.”

After Tiger Woods attends the Champions dinner on Tuesday night with Jon Rahm’s Spanish dinner, he will be preparing for the next big ceremony of the 2024 Masters. That is the Par-3 Contest. The ceremony was started in 1960 and it has always been held on a Wednesday since then.

The decades-old tradition of the men’s first major witnesses families coming together to enjoy the contest without any pressure. Comparatively, it is the day when the golfers are more relaxed before the official game follows. So, will Woods be able to enjoy the course with his son, Charlie Woods, on his bag? The simple answer is yes. The beloved event gets the children, grandchildren, wives or girlfriends, nieces and nephews to caddie for their golfers.

Hence, Charlie Woods may become a looper for Mr. T. Moreover, he may even take his first shot on the Par-3 nine holes in Augusta National. Or there are chances of seeing Woods’s daughter, Sam Woods, caddie for him, as she did last year at the PNC Championship. Either of his kids may take up the caddying duties as they did in 2015 on the 9-hole course behind the 10th tee in Augusta National.

The course has holes ranging from 99 to 155 yards shuffled on the northeast side of the golf course, with DeSoto Spring Pond and Ike’s Pond situated there to be played over by the pros. If you could not be one of the patrons at the Augusta Nationa to watch the contest, here’s how you can watch it from the comfort of your home

How to watch the Par-3 Contest? 

The Par-3 Contest will start on April 10th at noon, with the families of all the pros and some of the former champions donning the traditional white jumpsuit of the Masters. Over the course, the players will not be asked to keep a score as their families will be allowed to do the occasional drive, chip, or putt. However, while the patrons in Augusta National will watch it live, the ones at home can only watch it after a few hours.

The event action will be streamed by the Masters on Masters.com starting at 2:00 p.m. So set up your reminders to watch the golfers play a round of golf with their families and enjoy the family moments. One winner will be announced by the end of the 9-hole and he will receive an engraved crystal bowl and probably the historical curse. Funnily enough, no golfer has gone on to win the Masters after winning the Par-3 Contest. So, that tradition may follow this year as well or the spell might break. Who knows?

Charlie Woods shot 86 as he failed to make it through pre-qualifying for the PGA Tour’s Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches; Charlie and Tiger have played in last four editions of the father-and-son PNC Championship together

Charlie Woods’ hopes of competing in the PGA Tour’s Cognizant Classic ended as Tiger Woods’ 15-year-old son failed to advance from a pre-qualifying event in Florida on Thursday.

Woods went out with the early starters and carded a 16-over 86 at Lost Lake Golf Club, which was one of the four pre-qualifying sites.

After making par on the opening hole and then a double-bogey seven on the par-five fifth, it was the seventh which would prove most costly, where the teenager made a 12.

Although he did not produce a birdie, Woods managed 11 pars in total, including a run from the eighth to 13th as well as the final two holes to finish on 86.

Woods played alongside Olin Browne Jr, son of three-time PGA Tour winner Olin Browne, who carded a two-over 72.

The top five scores and ties from each of the pre-qualifying sites advance to Monday’s qualifier from where the top four golfers will earn a place in the Cognizant Classic, where the winner will get $1.62m [£1.28m] from the event’s $9m [£7.12m] purse.

Woods has competed in the last four editions of the PNC Championship alongside his father, who was forced to withdraw from the Genesis Invitational last week due to illness, later revealed to be influenza.

Charlie Woods has had a mixed debut at the Will Lowery Junior Championship, hosted by the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA).

The young golfer, aged 15 as of February, received a sponsor’s invite into the tournament, marking his first appearance in the AJGA circuit

However, Charlie’s performance thus far has been inconsistent. After completing two rounds at the Carolina Trace Country Club in Sanford, Florida, he finds himself at 15-over par.

His first round saw him carding a 78, marked by three birdies but also marred by five bogeys and consecutive double-bogeys on the 2nd and 3rd holes.

How was Woods’ second round?

The second round proved similarly challenging for Charlie, with eight bogeys and a double bogey at the par-4 5th. Despite managing a lone birdie on the par-4 4th, he concluded the round with an 81, bringing his cumulative score to 15-over par. As the competition enters its final round on Sunday, Charlie currently stands at T40 in the 51-player field.

Nevertheless, Charlie’s participation in this event has garnered considerable attention from both media and fans. Reports indicate heightened security measures, including armed police conducting thorough ID checks at the entrance, likely in response to previous incidents of unruly fan behavior experienced by Charlie during a pre-qualifier for the Cognizant Classic in February.

He was forced to bring in a host of security personnel and armed police to protect him from the crowd getting out of control. In the Cognizant Classic in February, his hopes of progressing impacted by fans eager to catch a close glimpse of the American prodigy in action.

A big part of his run was hampered by a large number of fans swarming the young golfer, with intruding fans seen walking alongside him and asking for photographs, distracting him from focusing on the green.

Amidst the challenges, Charlie has received support from his father, Tiger Woods, who was seen cheering him on during his debut in the AJGA circuit. Tiger, a 15-time major champion, made a rushed return from the Bahamas to be present at the event after engaging in confidential discussions with LIV Golf chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan earlier in the week.

It has been more than a month since Tiger Woods has been missing from the greens. After withdrawing from the Genesis Invitational in round two, the golf great went on another short hiatus to better care for his health. However, despite being away from the cameras, Woods was seen visiting North Carolina with his son, Charlie Woods.

The TW Legion tweeted that Woods accompanied Woods Jr for his AJGA debut. Charlie Woods has been given a sponsor’s exemption to play at the Will Lowery Championship at the Carolina Country Club in Sanford. It will be a 54-hole event for boys and girls aged 12 to 19.

This will be the 15-year-old golfer’s first outing after attempting to qualify for the Cognizant Classic earlier this year, which attracted a group of rowdy fans. Regardless, Charlie Woods’s receiving a sponsor’s exemption did not sit well with many in the golf world. Although Woods always supported his son, it seems that the reactions from the golf world have been strikingly opposite.

The netizens disapproved of the leeway given to Woods’s son and posted many sarcastic remarks about his skills. This time, they were questioning whether Charlie Woods should have received the exemption.

Netizens disparage Charlie Woods before his AJGA debut

Being the son of unarguably one of the best golfers does carry some disadvantages, and people being critical of his every move is one of them. And Charlie Woods has had it done to him quite a few times. This was not a rarity that had been evoked in the golf world.

One fan was utterly shocked that Charlie Woods was given a sponsor’s exemption for AJGA and retorted that he should stick to high school for the time being.

This user made a sarcastic jibe at Charlie Woods, who has been called “GOAT in waiting”. They satirically asked that if he was the best Jr in the country, why did he need a sponsor exemption?

Charlie Woods will be playing at the Will Lowery Championship from March 21st to 24th. While sponsor exemptions are part of golf, was it unreasonable that Woods Jr. received one? Tell us in the comments below.