After Repeated Demoralizing Setbacks, Charlie Woods Regains Fans’ Trust With Latest Heroics: ‘Learning From the Best’

The good spell of golf continues for Charlie Woods. Days after qualifying for his first USGA Championship, Woods Jr. was teeing off at the 75th Future Masters this week under the age 15-18 category. And his par save after landing in the bunker has caught the eyes of netizens. 

Charlie Woods lobbed his shot from the sand bunker on the par 3, 13th at the Dothan Country Club. The ball reached close to the pin, as seen in a clip reshared by NuclrGolf from an X (formerly Twitter) user who goes by the username The Meck. The teenager carded 3-over 73, picking up six bogeys and three birdies.

From walk-in putts to club recoil, Charlie Woods carries an uncanny similarity to his 82-time PGA Tour winner father. Although, he hit it from a greenside bunker, the teenager’s measured slice was reminiscent of Tiger Woods‘s long fairway bunker shot at the 2019 WGC – Mexico. 

Notably, Woods Jr. was paired with the offsprings of a few other greats in the first round of the tournament. Jacob Immelman, Liam Curtis, and Henry Kuehne are his playing mates for the first few rounds. They are part of the 232-player field at the Dothan Country Club. 

The first round was delayed to 12.45 PM local time due to inclement weather. Eventually, a heavy thunderstorm forced the opening round to be postponed, News 4 reported. Tournament officials haven’t released new tee times yet. Woods Jr. had completed the round by then.

Only last week, Charlie Woods qualified for the 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur. The teenager earned the medalist honor at the Coral Springs qualifier by carding 1-under-71. The teenager will travel to Oakland Hills next month. 

Ahead of that, a few good rounds at the Future Masters, a prestigious tournament that boasts Stewart Cink among its past winners, might just be what he needs. And, after some setbacks in the Cognizant Classic pre-qualifier, and the U.S. Open qualifier, fans believe Charlie Woods is finally showing up for himself.

Charlie Woods has learned from the best 

Tiger Woods had multiple great recovery shots from the sand in his arsenal. In the 2000 Canadian Open, the 15-time major champion reached the greenside rough from 218 yards, crossing over a line of trees and a lake with his 6-iron. Let’s not forget that the sharp turn from the wet sand bunker prevented him from seeing the pin. The tournament-winning shot was one of many. But only the 3-iron on Hazeltine in the 2002 PGA Championship comes the closest.  

Charlie Woods’s par-save reminded many of his father’s heroics. One user quipped, “Do you think after every good shot Tiger is like ‘I taught him that’”. Another joked, “Reckon this kids (sic) dad might be pretty good.” The duo was spotted training together a few weeks ago. Referring to that, one of them commented, “Training, learning from the best. Great to see.”

Interestingly, some were more curious to know if Tiger Woods was teaching him bunker etiquette. The unwritten rule is that you need to exit the bunker from the low side. And before you do, knock the sand off your shoes. And, of course, you need to rake the bunker neatly. 

Charlie Woods didn’t follow the entire procedure. At least, not till the video ended. Some users called out the teenager for that. One of them wrote, “Bro, you GOTTA knock that sand off your shoes before you track sand footprints all over the green!” Another joked it was a ‘rookie move’ on his part. 

Regardless, Tiger Woods would’ve been proud to have witnessed this, like he was during the 2023 PNC Championship when the teenager made a chip-in birdie on the par-4, 9th. Interestingly, we did a poll in our weekly newsletter, asking our readers to chime in if Woods Jr. can come out of his dad’s shadow. A whopping 57.69% of voters wanted to just let him play; after all, he is just 15, while around 28% of users believed he could one day.