Charlie Woods, Tiger’s 15-Year-Old Son, Fires Record 65 to Win Junior Golf Championship

In a performance that signaled his arrival as more than just “Tiger’s son,” 16-year-old Charlie Woods fired a five-under-par 66 on Wednesday to secure a wire-to-wire victory at the American Junior Golf Association’s Team TaylorMade Invitational at The Bear’s Club in Jupiter, Florida. The win is his first AJGA title and comes on the heels of a scorching 65 in the second round, giving him a 13-under 203 aggregate and a three-shot cushion over the elite junior field. Emerging from the shadow of a 15-time major champion father, Woods delivered a ball-striking clinic highlighted by accurate driving and a deft short game. His closing round featured six birdies, including back-to-back gains on 14 and 15 that slammed the door on the chasing pack. “I trusted my process and stayed patient,” Woods told tournament officials afterward, noting that practice rounds with his dad at nearby Medalist Golf Club sharpened his course management. The victory vaults Woods into the top tier of the Rolex AJGA Rankings and clinches exemptions into several Invitationals later this summer, positioning him for a potential U.S. Junior Amateur run. Last December he dazzled galleries while teaming with Tiger to finish T-5 at the PNC Championship, but this week’s solo triumph underscores his ability to close on his own merit. WHAT THE WIN MEANS • College recruiting boost: Power-five coaches already tracking Woods will have fresh data points for scholarship offers. • Equipment spotlight: Competing in a TaylorMade-backed event while gaming his customized Qi10 driver delivers timely marketing value for the brand. • Path to PGA Tour U: Under the PGA Tour’s newly expanded amateur pipeline, AJGA victories now weigh into accelerated status calculations once players reach college. KEY STATS • Total strokes gained vs. field: +9.2 (1st) • Fairways hit: 40/54 (74%) • Greens in regulation: 46/54 (85%) • Average driving distance: 298 yards REACTION FROM THE GOLF WORLD Golf Digest analysts praised Woods’ “repeatable move” and “elite compression” at impact, pointing out that his swing now looks more like Rory McIlroy’s than the elder Woods’ iconic coil-and-uncoil motion. Social channels lit up with comparisons to Tiger’s own junior résumé, which included three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur titles. WHAT’S NEXT Woods’ schedule is expected to include the Wyndham Invitational, the Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, and sectional qualifying for the U.S. Amateur. If his current trajectory holds, speculation about an early college commitment—or even a future NIL partnership—will only intensify. For now, though, Charlie Woods owns a signature win that validates the hype and hints that the next chapter of the Woods legacy may already be underway.