Jack Nicklaus Shares Personal Cautionary Tale As Charlie Woods Thrust Back Into Spotlight Following First AJGA Win

Being the son of a sporting legend has never been easy and - chances are - it will likely remain that way for eternity.

See Shedeur Sanders and Bronny James as modern examples of how difficult it can be to form your own legacy with the overwhelming shadow of your father leaning over you.

In golf, it's no different. Just ask Charlie Woods and the children of Jack Nicklaus. The 18-time Major winner is all to aware of the perils of being related to an athletic great, given Nicklaus experienced first-hand how his third-oldest son, Gary was treated while trying to make his way in the game.

At just 16 years old, long before he would go on to secure a PGA Tour card and following several wins at junior level, Gary Nicklaus' photo was plastered over the front of Sports Illustrated with the headline 'The Next Nicklaus' over the top.

The white-hot pressure on Gary was evident right out of the gate, even though his father tried his best to protect him from it.

Speaking to the Associated Press via Golf Channel before Scottie Scheffler wrapped up his 16th PGA Tour win at the Memorial Tournament last Sunday, event host Nicklaus said: “Sports Illustrated said they wanted to do a story. We said, ‘No cover, none of that.’ They put it right on the cover. It was not nice what they did. It ran him out of golf.”

Nicklaus didn't quit the game immediately, it should be said, but the crushing expectation on his shoulders would eventually take its toll.

He attended Ohio State and won a single title before earning a European Tour card and subsequently making it through PGA Tour Q-School in 1999 - the first Nicklaus son to do so.

But, for a while, interviews with someone many felt was destined to be a star were extremely few and far between.

Nicklaus continued: “Gary would get off the 18th and run to the car so he didn’t have to talk to the press for about two years."

Within four seasons of making the PGA Tour, but largely struggling results-wise, Gary Nicklaus was done. The fourth of Jack and Barbara's five children quit pro golf to focus on helping run the family business.

Another moment of frustration for the 73-time PGA Tour winner was when his grandson, G.T. made an ace at the Masters Par-3 Contest in 2018 and Nicklaus felt there was too much of a reaction by the media afterwards.

Given his unfortunate expertise in the area, Jack Nicklaus knows the pitfalls of kids being exposed to excessive publicity from such as young age. That's why, when asked who would receive more attention out of Scheffler and Charlie Woods after their respective recent wins, the Golden Bear admitted mild concern for Tiger's only son.

“That’s the kind of things you’ve really got to try to avoid with kids,” he said. “It’s difficult for them. It’s even tougher today. Charlie is a nice little player. He’s got a beautiful little golf swing. Does he want to follow his father? Does he realize what’s going on?”

Quotes from Tiger at the 2024 PNC Championship would suggest he does and the family is fully behind whatever choices Charlie makes - which looks to be attempting to become a pro golfer.

Of his support for Charlie, Tiger Woods said: “I just am always reminding him, ‘Just be you.’ "Charlie is Charlie. Yes, he’s my son. He’s going to have the last name and he’s going to be part of the sport. But I just want him to be himself and just be your own person.

"That’s what we will always focus on. I will always encourage it, for him to carve his own name, carve his own path and have his own journey.”

Coincidentally, the latter is exactly what Nicklaus says he always preached to his children when they were growing up as he knew what would await them if they chose golf.

Nicklaus said: “My kids played because they wanted to play, not because I wanted them to play. That was sort of my rule of the house. 'Don’t play golf because of me, play golf because that’s what you want to do.' That’s what they wanted to do.

“Then they figured out over a period of time they weren’t going to get to where they wanted to get, and they decided to do other things.”

Nicklaus' concern for Woods and anyone else in a similar position is understandable, but the man with just three fewer Majors is determined to ensure his talented son is as well-equipped as possible to cope with the stress of his inevitable situation.

At last year's PNC Championship, Woods continued: “In this day and age where you have so many different... everyone is basically media with all the phones. Being constantly filmed and people watching him, that’s just part of his generation, and that’s part of the world that he has to manoeuvre through.

"I try and do the best job I possibly can as a parent. I’m always here for him. But at the end of the day, I just want him just to be himself and have his own life.”