Charlie Woods Wins Big-Time Junior Golf Invitational By Three Shots After Record-Setting Performance
Tiger Woods' son has earned the biggest win of his young career.
Charlie Woods picked up his first major junior golf title, and looked impressive against a strong field of some of the best young players in the country.
Charlie, the 16-year-old son of Tiger Woods, posted a three-day total of 15-under to win the AJGA Team TaylorMade Invitational at Streamsong in Florida by a comfortable three-shot margin. The win marked Woods' first win on the AJGA circuit, which has long been regarded as the best junior tour in the United States.
Woods' tournament got off to a rather unique start as he signed one of the wilder scorecards one could imagine, carding just three pars over his first 18 holes, but still managing to post a 2-under 70 to keep him well within the lead.
The Florida native followed up his opening round of 70 with a 65 in round two and a 66 in the final round. When it was all said and done, Woods carded a total of 26 birdies and one eagle over the course of 54 holes, which set a record for total birdies in an AJGA Invitational, according to the Junior Golf Association.
Prior to the event, Woods was ranked 604th in the Rolex AJGA Rankings, a barometer many college coaches pay close attention to. With his victory, Woods gained fully exempt AJGA status and is projected to move inside the top-20 of the rankings.
Miles Russell, the No. 1 player in the Rolex AJGA Rankings, finished seventh in the tournament and six shots back of Woods. Russell has made starts on both the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour already in his career. Woods also bested Asher Vargas in the TaylorMade event, who is ranked third in the rankings.
With a victory in ‘one of the big ones,’ it'll be interesting to see if this catapults young Woods into having a strong summer ahead of his junior year of high school.