Charlie Woods Update: Round 1 Tee Time at 2024 Press Thornton Future Masters Explored

Tiger Woods was just 14 when he reached the US Junior Amateur’s semifinals. While he was unsuccessful in his first attempt, he went on to win three US Junior Amateur wins. Now his son, Charlie Woods, will compete for the championship after he successfully qualified for the event last week. But before teeing up for his first-ever USGA event at Oakland Hills, the 15-year-old will be competing on the greens of Dothan. The Press Thornton Junior Masters begins this week, on June 27.

Charlie Woods will be seen at the Dothan Country Club in Dothan, Alabama, teeing up quite early in the day. However, along with a team of star golfers’ sons, the Young Woods will be stationed at the 10th hole, teeing up at 7:21 AM sharp.

As mentioned by Future Masters Golf, his team looks incredible. All of the young golfers are the sons of major champions.

Woods will be grouped with Jacob Immelman, who is not only a Clemson signee but also the son of the 2008 Masters Champion Trevor Immelman. Up next in the group is 2003 Open Champion Ben Curtis’s son, Liam Curtis. Last but not least, Henry Kuehne will be joining Tiger Woods‘s son’s team this week. Kuehne’s father, Hank, won the US Amateur Championship as well as the Telus Quebec Open and Texas Challenge in 2002.

Tournament coordinator Angelia Wade Turner spoke about the idea behind this grouping. “Tee times are usually random. We do make some adjustments with brothers that don’t like to play together, so we will pair them back-to-back. We’ve got a set of twins in this group that wanted to be morning and afternoon, so we do look at those requests and make it happen if we can.”

“We felt like the four PGA players’ sons would be more comfortable in them all being paired together. Last year’s winner, Carson Baez, will be paired in the group behind them,” she added.

Further, according to NBC Sports, two of the players from the group have already played together previously. Woods and Immelman actually played together at the AJGA’s UNIQLO/Adam Scott Junior Championship. It took place earlier this year. While Immelman finished T-32, Woods came in a tie for T-27.

But along with all the new events coming up for Charlie Woods, there has also been another looming possibility around him. In a Q&A by Dan Rappaport at Barstool Sports’ Monday Rap, Charlie Woods might get a sponsor invite in the future, despite failing to achieve his PGA Tour debut dreams. 

In February this year, Charlie took his first step towards his PGA Tour career by competing in the pre-qualifiers of the Cognizant Classic. However, his performance on the greens garnered criticism, as he failed to qualify. He tried his luck again during the U.S. Open qualifiers but was once again handed a disappointing result, carding a 9-over 81.

His fellow competitors, like Kris Kim, have already embarked on their PGA Tour journey at CJ Cup Bryon Nelson and AGJA no. 1 Miles Russell is about to do the same at the upcoming Rocket Mortgage Classic. Now the question arises: is a sponsor invite to the PGA Tour on the cards for Charlie Woods?

Here’s why Charlie Woods can receive a sponsor invite…

Rocket Mortgage Classic has been making shocking news this time around. A 15-year-old golfer, Miles Russell, has already achieved a sponsor exemption to play at the Detroit Golf Club, making him the youngest debutant on the Tour. Keeping that reality into consideration, Dan Rapaport answered a question regarding the young Woods receiving a sponsor invite.

He said, “He’ll get a sponsor invite sooner than you’d think. Tournaments have gotten smarter with those, and the amateur game has improved drastically to the point where they can invite college kids (or younger) and know they’re not going to embarrass themselves. The sponsor invites for this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic are indicative of this trend.”

Moreover, John Daly’s son, Little John, has already taken such an opportunity this year. Although older than Woods by six years, Daly II got a sponsor invite to last week’s Korn Ferry event. Sadly enough, the young golfer missed the cut. It remains to be seen how Charlie Woods fairs at the Junior Masters before he tees up at the US Junior Amateur.

Do you think having such young golfers on the field will increase the pressure on them or will it season them to become better pros? Let us know what you think of the sponsor invites in light of the present circumstances.