Charlie Woods endures AJGA debut to forget

Making his American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) debut, Charlie Woods struggled to make his mark.

Woods, who turned 15 in February, was given a sponsors invite for the Will Lowery Junior Championship in North Carolina, and had his dad, Tiger, watching on.

It marked 33 years since Tiger made his debut in the AJGA, where he won eight times between 1991 and 1992.

That included four wins in each season, as Woods dominated the circuit as a junior.

But it was a debut to forget for Charlie, as he fell into a tie for 32nd after suffering three tough rounds of 78, 81 and 78, respectively.

Reports claimed his appearance was met with extra security measures after a vocal crowd disturbed his first attempt at breaking on to the PGA Tour.

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Charlie was teeing it up in a pre-qualifier for the Cognizant Classic last month, when a small number of spectators ‘overstepped the mark’.

Struggles on the step up in competition continued for Charlie, though, as he dropped down the leaderboard over the course of the week at the Carolina Trace Country Club.

As 51 juniors competed, Patmom Malcom swept aside the field to win by eight strokes with a seven-under-par total. Notably, 28 shots better than Woods.

Charlie’s tournament total of 21-over-par beat only 19 golfers and started with an opening round that contained five bogeys and two double-bogeys.

With just a single birdie in his second round, Woods carded eight bogeys and one double-bogey before logging four bogeys and three double-bogeys in his final round.

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Meanwhile, fans spotted Tiger at the event on Thursday, straight off the jet from the Bahamas.

The 48-year-old was at the Albany for meetings with Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

Reports suggested that Woods was “very engaged” in the talks, which also included PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and a group of Player Directors.

Tiger, an 82-time PGA Tour winner, also played golf with LIV Golf chairman Al-Rumayyan, as he prepares for a return at The Masters in April.

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.