Tiger Woods might be a 15-time major champion, but he’s taking pointers from a 15-year-old as he makes his final preparations for the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No.2. The 15-year-old in question is, of course, Tiger’s son Charlie.
“I think having Charlie out here is very special. To have the father-son relationship that we have and to extend it into this part of both of our lives, he’s playing a lot of junior golf, and I’m still playing out here,” Tiger said.
“As far as his responsibilities, it’s the same. I trust him with my swing and my game. He’s seen it more than anybody else in the world. He’s seen me hit more golf balls than anyone,” Tiger explained of Charlie’s role. “I tell him what to look for, especially with putting. He gave me a couple little side bits today, which was great, because I get so entrenched in hitting certain putts to certain pins, I tend to forget some of the things I’m working on.”
Woods, who has three U.S. Open victories including a 15-shot win at Pebble Beach in 2000, played a practice round on Tuesday with Max Homa and the big-hitting 25-year-old Australian Min Woo Lee and Charlie accompanied the trio throughout the round.
“It’s neat for him to see the guys that he watches on TV and YouTube and TikTok, whatever the hell it is that they do,” Tiger said. “He was very excited today to watch Max and Min Woo and watch them hit golf balls. They’ve talked to him quite a bit, especially Min Woo and him. I think they’re closer in age than I am to anybody else. It’s great. It’s great for us to be able to share these moments together.”
Woods hopes of competing in a tournament a month in 2024 have proven wide of the mark and his missed cut at last month’s PGA Championship means he’s now completed just seven full rounds this year.
Still, he feels that his body is continuing to improve and, despite being long odds against, feels that he still has the skills in his locker to have a big impact on the leaderboard this week.
“I do,” he replied when asked if he felt he could maintain a high level for four rounds. “I feel like I have the strength to be able to do it. It’s just a matter of doing it.
“This golf course is going to test every single aspect of your game, especially mentally, and just the mental discipline that it takes to play this particular golf course, it’s going to take a lot.”
Woods has twice competed in U.S. Open Championships at Pinehurst, finishing T3 in 1999 behind Payne Stewart and Phil Mickelson, and second in 2005 to surprise winner Michael Campbell, but injury forced him to miss the 2014 U.S. Open which was won by Martin Kaymer.
The Donald Ross layout was renovated by Coore-Crenshaw prior to the 2014 staging, and this is his first look at the new and improved design, and though he’s been practicing hard on his putting and short game, knows that there’s only so much that can be gained by practice and the heat of battle will ask sterner questions.
“Nothing can simulate what we have here this particular week, the amount of little shots and the knobs and run-offs, and either using wedges or long irons or woods around the greens or even putter,” he said. “There’s so many different shots that you really can’t simulate unless you get on the property. That’s one of the reasons I came up here last Tuesday.”
Yesterday, Wyndham Clark mentioned that the greens were “borderline” in terms of the speed and difficulty, and though we’ve yet to learn how difficult the pin positions will be, Woods expects that plenty of players will struggle regardless if they find themselves short sided.
“It depends how severe the USGA wants to make this and how close they want to get us up to those sides,” he said. “But I foresee just like in ’05 watching some of the guys play ping-pong back and forth. It could happen.”
As an additional motivating factor, if one were needed, Woods is also set to be honoured with the Bob Jones Award on Tuesday evening. Woods and Jones have nine USGA titles each, and share the record for most USGA Championship victories. A win on Sunday would see Woods take sole possession of the honour and be the first player to reach double digits with three U.S. Junior, three U.S. Amateur, and four U.S. Open titles.
“I think anytime you’re in association with Mr. Jones, it’s always incredible,” Tiger said. “What he did in his amateur career, winning the Ams and the Opens and then obviously creating Augusta National, the fact that I get a chance to be honored with his award tonight, it’s very special.”
Leave a comment