Charlie Woods Shoots 86 To Miss Out On PGA Tour Pre-Qualifying Bid

Charlie Woods shot 86 as he failed to make it through pre-qualifying for the PGA Tour's Cognizant Classic in Florida

Charlie Woods
(Image credit: Getty Images)

In his bid to qualify for a PGA Tour event for the first time, Charlie Woods had a bit of a disaster as he finished pre-qualifying with a 16-over-par round of 86.

The 15-year-old was attempting to make Monday's qualifier for the Cognizant Classic, but had a nightmare 12 during his round at Lost Lake Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida.

Overall, the teenage son of the 15-time Major champion recorded 11 pars, four bogeys, two double bogeys and that one 12 on the par-four seventh hole.

Charlie has competed alongside Tiger at the PNC Championship for the last four years, but he has never tried to make it as an individual player at a PGA Tour sanctioned event.

Around 25 players and ties from pre-qualifiers will make it to Monday qualifying, with four places available for the tournament, formerly the Honda Classic, at PGA National.

Woods was among the early starters and his 16 over was 21 shots off the early pace set by Billy Basham, who shot a five-under round of 65. 

It was a baptism of fire then for the teenager into how tough life could be early on in trying to make it on the PGA Tour - although at 15 it's obviously still just the embryonic stages of his career.

Charlie has also forged an impressive junior career, competing predominantly on the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour and Junior PGA South Florida Tour. In 2022, he cruised to victory by eight shots at the Major Championship at Village Golf Course.

Last year, he shot a 66 in the Last Chance Regional to close out another win and qualify for the 2023 Notah Begay III Boys' Jr Golf National Championship. At the event, he finished T17 in the Boys 14-15 Division with his dad caddying for him. 

Also in 2023, he helped his team to the Florida High School Athletic Association Class A state championship.

Paul Higham
Contributor

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website.  Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.