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Charlie Woods wasn’t able to punch his ticket to his first PGA Tour event after attempting to qualify for next week’s Cognizant Open, and while his play was the most glaring issue, the fact that he had to deal with a bunch of unruly spectators who followed his every move certainly didn’t help.
It’s hard not to feel some sympathy for people who have a famous athlete as a parent and decide to follow in their footsteps. There are obviously plenty of perks that come with being in that position, but you’re also signing up for the attention and scrutiny that comes with being surrounded by an amount of hype that’s pretty hard to live up to.
That’s especially true when your dad is Tiger Woods, as trying to escape the shadow of one of the greatest golfers of all time is certainly no small task. However, that hasn’t stopped Charlie Woods from deciding to chart his own path.
The younger Woods has already attracted plenty of attention while playing alongside his dad at various tournaments, and on Thursday, he set out to do what Tiger never could by attempting to qualify for his first PGA Tour event at the age of 15.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to make the cut after shooting +16 during a round that was derailed by a septuple bogey on the seventh.
Charlie is already dealing with a ton of pressure thanks to his parentage, and it’s hard to imagine he wasn’t impacted by what he was greeted with when he arrived at Lost Lake Golf Club. He was the only person in the 116-player field who had a photographer following him around the entire day, and according to The Palm Beach Post, he also attracted a sizeable gallery home to more than a few fans who had trouble behaving themselves.
The outlet reports some of those spectators ignored a marshall tasked with ensuring there was enough space between Woods and the fans, scrambled to recover a ball when it landed out of bounds, and—in one case—attempted to get him to sign one of Tiger’s books in the middle of the rounds (it notes Charlie also had a two-man security detail tasked with keeping some order).
Oh, there was also a woman who “pulled her granddaughter out of school in the hope of Woods noticing her.”
I guess it’s not a huge shock that some people who decided to devote a Thursday morning to watching a 15-year-old play golf in Florida are a little bit…out there, but Charlie shouldn’t have to deal with a circus like that.