It wasn’t the way Charlie Woods would have drawn it up.
The 17-year-old son of Tiger Woods, who is trying to follow in his famous father’s footsteps and navigate all the scrutiny that comes with it, finished in last place in this weekend’s prestigious Junior Invitational amateur tournament at Sage Valley Golf Club in Graniteville, S.C.
Woods shot 26-over and finished 10 spots behind 35th place in the field of 36.
He began the tournament with a 3-over 75, then shot 4-over 76 in the second round, 11-over 83 in the third round and 8-over 80 in the final round Saturday.
Miles Russell, who is No.1 in the American Junior Golf Association rankings, won the tournament at 15-under. He and Woods, ranked No. 20 by the AJGA, both committed to Florida State.
“Excited to announce my commitment to play golf at Florida State University — go Noles!” Woods wrote on Instagram last month.
The Junior Invitational is one of the top tournaments in the country for amateurs. Scottie Scheffler won it in 2014 and Akshay Bhatia, who won last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, won it in 2018.
Woods is in his junior year at the Benjamin School in Palm Beach, Fla. He’s won two state championships, and his parents, Tiger and ex-wife Elin Nordegren, reunited to support Charlie at a championship ceremony last month. The three posed for photos together.
As for Tiger, the 50-year-old has been recovering from an Achilles injury and disc replacement. He hasn’t played a tournament since the 2024 British Open, but at last month’s Genesis Invitational, Woods did not rule out playing in The Masters next month.
Asked if playing at Augusta was off the table, the 15-time major champion said, “No.”
Woods has won the green jacket five times, most recently in 2019.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
