Charlie Woods Fades at the Junior PGA Championship
Charlie Woods, son of the legendary golfer Tiger Woods, had a difficult final round at the Junior PGA Championship, moving away from the possibility of securing a place on the U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team.
Woods, 16 years old, completed the last round with a score of 3 over par, finishing in ninth place in the competition.
The young golfer began the day tied for second place with a total of 12 under par after three days of play at the Ackerman-Allen Course of the Brick Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Indiana. However, he failed to maintain the pace in the final round, with an uneven performance that included a bogey on the 14th hole and a double bogey on the 15th.
Lunden Esterline, who will play for Auburn in 2027, took the championship with an impressive score of 19 under par, thus securing one of the two automatic qualifying spots for the Junior Ryder Cup team. Giuseppe Puebla, with a total of 13 under par, earned the other spot.
The United States team will face Europe from September 23 to 25 at the Nassau Country Club and Bethpage Black in New York.
Woods could still be selected as the captain’s only choice next week, but given his number 20 position in the American Junior Golf Association ranking, the possibility seems remote.
Woods, a student at The Benjamin School in Palm Beach, Florida, won the AJGA Team TaylorMade Invitational in May. Previously, he failed to make the cut at the recent U.S. Junior Amateur.
In the women’s competition, Asterisk Talley was crowned Junior PGA champion, beating Zoe Cusack by one stroke.
