Tiger Woods’ son Charlie, 15, aiming for PGA Tour debut

As Tiger Woods recovers from the illness that forced him to withdraw from last week’s Genesis Invitational, his son Charlie is aiming to make his own mark on the PGA Tour.

Charlie, 15, has competed alongside Woods in the last four PNC Championships and finished 17th in the boys 14-15 division at the prestigious Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championship last season.

But he now has a chance to make his debut on the US circuit that his father once dominated at the Cognizant Classic – formerly known as the Honda Classic – at The PGA National in Florida.

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On Thursday, the teenager will line up in a pre-qualifier for the showpiece tournament at Lost Lake Golf Club, one of four qualifying venues.

He has been grouped in the pre-qualifier with Irishman Ruaidhri McGee and American Olin Browne Jr as he aims to make his hometown event in south Florida.

Approximately 25 players from the field at Lost Lake will advance to a Monday qualifier, where four players will earn places at the £7.1millon event, starting on February 29.

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Should he make it through the brutally tough qualifying rounds, Charlie would be teeing it up in the main field alongside major champions including Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Woods, a 15-time major winner, made his own PGA Tour debut as an amateur aged 16 back in 1992, missing the cut at the LA Open.

The 48-year-old caddied for Charlie in junior events last year as he stepped up his recovery from multiple surgeries following his career-threatening car crash in February 2021.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.