After playing his final two holes of his first nine holes in five over par with a double and triple bogey, Charlie Woods seemed to have hit a wall Tuesday afternoon in his second round of the 76th U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills Country Club.
Instead, soon after, he finally hit his stride.
The 15-year-old son of Tiger Woods buckled down and showed some flashes of form on the difficult South Course at Oakland Hills that enabled him to walk out with his head held high. It made his dad smile ever so slightly, too.
The Jupiter, Florida, youngster suffered soft bogeys on two of his final three holes, including a three-putt at the last, and that was a shame because it marred an otherwise solid closing stretch. Instead of shooting par on the front nine (his second nine) he carded a one-over 36.
And his last putt, a tap in, gave him an 80. His 22-over 162 total left him tied for 240th in the 264-player field.
The top 64 scorers advanced to match play starting Wednesday on the South Course. Both of Woods’s playing partners, Chase Kyes of Birmingham, Alabama, and Davis Ovard of Frisco, Texas, made it through after shooting 66 and 68, respectively.
Charlie Woods plays his tee shot on the ninth hole during the second round of stroke play of the 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur – Logan Whitton
Woods striped his opening drive right down the sprinkler heads to begin his second round on the par-4 10th hole. This is not a recitation of a bromide but a literal description. His tee shot stopped one inch behind a centerline sprinkler, forcing him to take relief.
His approach into the 10th green stopped 15 feet from the pin, and he two-putted for par. Same at his second hole, the long par-4 11th—striped a driver, knocked it on the green and took two putts for par.
It was a heartening beginning for Woods, whose father’s many accomplishments include three straight Junior Am titles, after a tough opening day in his USGA debut Monday morning. A 12-over 82 on the easier North Course meant he was just playing for pride and experience on a steamy day in suburban Detroit, but with another large crowd following along—as much to watch the golf as to watch Tiger watch the golf—Charlie had to keep his head in the game.
He appeared to be doing just that, but a storm front that brought heavy rain caused play to be suspended at 3:05 p.m. ET and the delay lasted 1 hour, 45 minutes. Woods seemed to have lost his mojo in that time as he played the final five holes of his first nine in eight over par. The 18th was particularly nettlesome as he came up short of the green in two and then twice pitched up the slope only to come up short and watch his ball come back to him. He finally got it on with his third try and two-putted from 20 feet.
After that, however, the youngster played nicely with his lone birdie of the day coming at the par-3 third hole, where he laced his tee shot to five feet. He missed only one fairway and two greens coming home, never had many other close looks.
After signing his card, he climbed into a golf cart with his father and his caddie and security personnel. For the second time in as many days he opted to not talk to the media. He didn’t look disappointed, and he didn’t look happy as the cart headed for the parking lot. He looked like a golfer who learned something. All in all, not a bad way to go.
Main Image: Logan Whitton
