Is Tiger Doing The Right Thing With Charlie
When it comes to Tiger Woods‘ son Charlie, is Tiger doing the right thing by letting him compete against men twice and three times his age?
Charlie Woods The Golfer
Pretty much everyone seems to be familiar with Charlie Woods. Charlie is Tiger’s 15-year-old son. And, to no one’s surprise Charlie fell in love with the game of golf at an early age, just like his father. Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen videos of Charlie playing in junior events, many times with his famous father on the bag. We’ve also seen Tiger and Charlie participate in the “hit & giggle” event that is the PNC Championship.
But this week, Charlie is taking his golf to an entirely different level. As I write this, Charlie is currently playing in a “pre-qualifier” event for next week’s Cognizant Classic on the PGA Tour. If Charlie was to finish in the top 5, he would then qualify to play in the Monday qualifier for the tournament. If Charlie finishes in the top four on Monday, then he would qualify to play in the tournament.
The odds of him getting to the Monday event are long. The odds of him getting to the tournament, even longer, but he is the son of Tiger Woods.
Tiger Woods As A Parent
Far be it from me to lecture Tiger on parenting, it does seem by all accounts that he does a great job with not only Charlie, but also with Charlie’s sister, Sam. But I can’t say that I’m a fan of Charlie dabbling in these events.
Two people come to mind. The first is Charlie’s dad, Tiger. Tiger’s father, Earl, seemed to make it a point to make sure that his son played in as many age-appropriate tournaments as possible. Earl also wanted to make sure that Tiger dominated as many of those events as possible, solidifying the idea of winning, and how to win in Tiger’s arsenal of tools. As we now look back on that, it seems a pretty successful model.
Now consider Michelle Wie. In her early teens Michelle was teeing it with the men in professional events. She continued to play in a lot of tournaments through her teens. She never really played on the junior circuit, especially compared to Tiger. She didn’t get the feeling of winning often and dominating her peers. She was playing with adults and trying to make cuts. Today, Michelle Wie West is married, and a mother. A fulfilling life indeed. You can’t say as much about her life as a professional golfer. Did she win? Yes, five times including the 2014 US Open. Did she fulfill the expectations from her teenage years, I think many would say no. She didn’t get that winning experience.
Charlie Woods Winning Experience
To date, Charlie doesn’t have much of that winning experience either. His high school team did win a state championship, something his father didn’t do, but that was a team event. Now Charlie is on a much bigger stage.
To be fair to both Tiger and Charlie, maybe moving forward Tiger will steer Charlie to more AJGA events, junior tournaments and such, even the large ones and this playing is more of a “one off”.
I hope that’s the case. Charlie already has a lot to overcome, as the children of highly successful professional athletes have discovered for years.
I hope Charlie does well today. Maybe just not too well. I’d like to see him be a kid for as long as possible.
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