Tiger Woods was spotted rooting for his 15-year-old Charlie at the US Junior Amateur Championship after failing to make the cut at the Open,
although he wasn’t allowed to caddie for his son.
The 48-year-old was in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, on Monday for the start of the tournament, as he watched Charlie tee off.
The teen began the day with three straight pars, according to reports.
Tiger – a 15-time major winner – walked with large galleries on hand to watch his son, as he’s not permitted to caddie due to a specific rule by the US Golf Association (USGA).
The rule states that ‘a player must not use a parent, step-parent, or guardian as a caddie during qualifying or the Championship proper.’
Therefore, Charlie’s teammate Luke Wise will handle bag duties at the ticketless event.
Tiger, a nine-time USGA champion, won three consecutive US Junior titles, from 1991 to 1993, and reached the semifinals in his debut as a 14-year-old in 1990.
Charlie, however, is making his USGA championship debut this year. So far, it is the biggest tournament of his young career.
Charlie, a 2027 recruit, is ranked No. 817 in the Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings, meaning it will be tall order for him to qualify for the tournament’s 64-play match-play portion, which starts on Wednesday following two rounds of stroke play.
Nonetheless, Charlie is adamant to prove himself on the course.
‘Some of the things that happened to this poor kid, sometimes it’s just unfair,’ Charlie’s high-school coach, Tony Harbeck of The Benjamin School in Palm Beach, Florida, told The Detroit Free Press last week.
He added: ‘If you’ve watched Tiger play, you know the throngs of people that follow him. If you were standing on a tall porch or deck, and you could see the whole golf course, you can always tell where Tiger was exactly by the amount of people.
‘Charlie’s the exact same way. You can tell where Charlie is because he’ll have 30 or 40 people following him.’
Jaxon Bandelier – one of Charlie’s competitors – echoed similar sentiment to the teen’s coach, as he described the younger Woods as a ‘normal kid’ during a practice round on Saturday.
‘He’s got a really nice swing, just didn’t really strike the ball too well today,’ Bandelier added, referring to Charlie. ‘But, I mean, obviously, you’ve got a ton of people out here watching him, even in the fall.’
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Source: New York Post
