Was All The Charlie Woods Coverage Too Much Too Soon?

We're all guilty of it, every golf fan wants to know if Charlie Woods will be able to follow in his dad Tiger's footsteps, but are we in danger of going overboard?

The media, the PGA Tour themselves and even the fans all had their part to play in what ended up being a rather unseemly circus following Woods at Lost Lake Golf Club in Florida.

The 15-year-old shot 86 in pre-qualifying for the Cognizant Classic, but beyond just the scorecard reports of the crowd scenes that followed him made for uncomfortable reading.

Pre-round reports of young Charlie taking part, a Getty Images photographer being sent to the course to snap him in action and social media coverage right from the moment the teenager showed up at the driving range was all a bit of overkill.

And it only served to hype-up the round and attract more fans than you'd usually see at such an event, and one that was ill-equipped to deal with them.

Fans rushing into the bushes to grab an out of bounds drive, fanatics walking too close to Woods down the fairways due to the lack of ropes at these pre-qualifiers made for a bad start.

Spectators arguing with tournament officials trying to keep them in line and even one reacting angrily when she tried to get an Charlie to sign a copy of dad Tiger's book - during the round!

I think everyone will agree that a 15-year-old kid, regardless of who their father happens to be, shouldn't have to deal with all that nonsense on his first attempt to try and get into a PGA Tour event.

And it also meant that the story of Miles Russell was largely missed - like Woods a 15-year-old, the top-five junior in America shot an impressive two under that although wasn't enough to progress was certainly an eye-catching display.

Tiger Woods is one of the greatest golfers of all time, the 15-time Major champion and 82-time PGA Tour winner changed golf more than any player before or since, and his mere mention brings in more attention than anything else in the sport.

So it's only natural that his son trying to make it in the same sport would make headlines - and him trying to qualify for a PGA Tour event for the first time is certainly newsworthy.

But there's a line that everyone needs to be careful not to cross before all things Charlie Woods truly get too out of hand.

He is just a 15-year-old after all - and yes he's had a taste of things when playing in the PNC Championship alongside Tiger, but out on his own in his pre-qualifying debut he was probably let down a bit by all of us.

Perhaps it was just because it was his first time, and maybe lessons can be learned so if young Woods tries again there won't be as much pre-round publicity - or if not then improved security measures put in place to avoid the scenes witnessed this week.

It's a tough ask because everyone wants to know how he'll get on - supporters who are wishing him well are thirsty for information on Tiger's offspring and when he's playing in PGA Tour events interest will rightly be piqued.

But we must proceed with caution - Charlie will learn to live with the type of special attention being Tiger's son draws, he'll have to if he wants to make it as a professional golfer and there's just no way around it.

But there's plenty of time for that, he shouldn't have to deal with as much at such a young age, even the son of Tiger deserves a bit of space, so let's just give him that for now to avoid scaring him away for good.