Charlie Woods failed to recover from a 12-over opening round at the US Junior Amateur as he missed the cut at the prestigious Oakland Hills event.
The son of 15-time Major champion Tiger had it all to do after an opening round that included three bogeys, five double bogeys and just two birdies on the North Course of the six-time US Open venue.
That left him needing a big turnaround in form to have a chance of reaching the knockout stages as he began the day outside the top 250, 10 shots adrifts of where he needed to be to make the top 64 and progress as he took on the South Course.
Starting on the 10th, he began promisingly enough, with pars in his opening two holes of the day, but a bogey on the par 5 12th will have dampened the expectations of the sizeable crowd following his as well his onlooking dad.
Crowds following Charlie Woods’ group and Miles Russell’s group.Can you guess which is which? pic.twitter.com/Y1DHBB6ab4July 23, 2024
The youngster's third par of the day came on the 13th before another setback on the 14th with an all-too-familiar double bogey leaving his task looking forlorn.
His ordeal continued with another bogey on the 15th before his second double bogey of the day on the 17th was followed by a triple bogey to make the turn 21-over for the tournament.
By now playing for pride, Charlie recovered plenty of it over the remaining holes. He arrested the slide on the par 4 first, his 10th hole of the day, with a par, and he made that two in a row on the next hole before finally recording his first birdie of the day on the par 3 third. Three successive pars followed as his confidence appeared to come flooding back, before he finished bogey-par-bogey to leave him 22-over for the tournament at T240.
It was a different story for another emerging 15-year-old, Miles Russell. The American, who made his PGA Tour debut in the Rocket Mortgage Classic, progressed comfortably after the player, who occupies the No.1 spot in the American Junior Golf Association rankings, followed a two-under opening round with a one-over 71 on the second day to sit T12 on the leaderboard.
Elsewhere, 16-year-old Blades Brown, who made the cut on his PGA Tour debut in the Myrtle Beach Classic, did better still, finishing on six-under to top the leaderboard and reach the match play section. Tyler Watts finished second.
As for Woods, who reached his first US Junior Amateur after carding a one-under-par 71 to win his qualifier at Eagle Trace Golf Club in Coral Springs, Florida last month, he can take comfort from a strong finish in his second round as well as the fact that, with eligibility until 18, he has three more years to try to win the tournament his dad famously triumphed at three years in a row between 1991 and 1993.
Earlier in the week, Tiger confirmed that he and Charlie would once again team up for December's PNC Championship at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.
