The Joy Of Charlie Woods — Let’s Just Let Charlie Be Charlie

“I don’t think words can describe it.  The fact that we were able to have this experience together, Charlie and I.  It’s memories for a lifetime.”

                                                                          — Tiger Woods on PNC Championship

For the first time in his storied, decorated playing career, Tiger Woods was not the center of attention last week in Orlando.

The name Tiger Woods has always driven the ratings needle and the social media needle in golf but at the PNC Championship, it was someone else.

Charlie Woods, the 11-year-old son of Tiger stole the entire show this past Saturday and Sunday at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club.

Tiger and Son put on a show and finished 20-under par in the two-player scramble event that had 20 teams made up by major champions (and TPC champions) and their sons, daughters, fathers and fathers-in-law.

No one had more eyeballs on them than the Woods duo, with Charlie driving the Twitter-sphere and the Insta-Gram sphere.

You could tell that Charlie was into the action and perhaps Tiger was more interested in helping Charlie than hitting super shots.  The team made two bogeys in scramble play and there’s no way ANYONE would make two bogeys with Tiger as their partner.  But it was Woods who failed to back up Charlie on those two bogeys — one was a missed five-foot putt on Saturday and it is becoming obvious that Tiger simply doesn’t putt as well as he used to.

It was an emotional Sunday for Tiger.  You can tell simply by reading the quote that we’ve led with.  Emotional for Tiger?  You bet.

Tiger had one major mission and he voiced that after Saturday’s first round:  “I’m just making sure Charlie has the time of his life,” Tiger reiterated.

From the looks of it, Charlie did have the time of his life.  On the fifth hole of the first round, Charlie made an eagle on the par five on his own ball.  They played his drive and Charlie hit a draw around a corner and by time his shot stopped, it pulled up within three feet of the cup.

“He hit some of the most incredible golf shots,” Woods said.  He was right, over and over, it was Charlie hitting some fancy approach shots inside 10 feet, some even closer.  It was nothing new for Tiger but it was for all of us who watched.  “I’ve seen this,” Tiger said, talking specifically about the Charlie eagle.  “A lot of the shots he’s hit. I’ve seen it this entire year, this entire pandemic. He hit these shots. The few events he’s played in, he’s hit a lot of these shots. But this is a totally different deal.”

Indeed it was.  Charlie Woods was not under the national microscope.  When each round was finished, it was Tiger in front of the mics and cameras.  Tiger insisted that Charlie be excused from media interviews throughout the week. “I’m trying to make sure Charlie has the right environment, that he’s sheltered and away from this,” Woods said, addressing a small group of reporters after the first round.  “I do all of this so he can practice and play and enjoy the golf side of it.”

And there lies the mission — let Charlie ENJOY golf.  That’s the way it’s supposed to be for children who show an interest in the game.

But there are those who cannot resist.  There are already betting odds on Charlie’s future.

One betting site last Monday put out odds on Charlie winning a major championship by age 25.  For the record, those odds are 825-to-1.

We don’t even know how far Charlie wants to go with his game — high school, probably, college, his swing already gives us indications of mad skills.  PGA Tour?  That’s a horse of a different color.

Maybe it’s a throwback to Rory McIlroy when he was 15.  There are more book parlors in the U.K. than convenience stores in America.  Back then some U.K. books had Rory at 500-1 to win the Open Championship by the time he turned 25.  But by age 15, Rory was already a prodigy and his dad, Gerry and friends, bet 400 pounds on that 500-1 longshot.  Rest is history.

There is even an over/under on the year Charlie plays in his first major championship.  For the record, it’s 2035.5.

But let’s throw in a word here and say calm down everyone.

“This is a different world that we live in now,” Tiger conceded last weekend. “Everyone has a phone, everyone has an opportunity to video, he’s been out there. A lot of people are trying to use him to build up, or write or talk about things,” Woods said. “Just making sure he’s able to have fun playing the game of golf.”

And we second that motion.

It was nice to enjoy Charlie’s beautiful swing.  It was nice to see him play really, really well.  And it was even nicer to see the joy on his father’s face.

Lee Trevino happened to pass the Woods duo during the events earlier last week. “Now you know how your father felt,” Lee told Tiger.

With some emotion in his voice, Woods simply responded:

“It’s unbelievable.”