At a pre-qualifying event in Florida, the swing and follow-through took place on Thursday morning at approximately 8 a.m. ET. The PGA Tour seized it in a hurry.
We had seen this swing before; it was rather wonderful. How could we have overlooked it?
Charlie Woods was trying to qualify for a tour event for the first time. Social media users felt the moment as well, although they weren’t quite as sentimental.
“You guys have a real event beginning today,” was the first comment on X, the defunct Twitter account.
Mardy Fish, a professional tennis player and avid golfer, advised leaving the child alone.
Some questioned Woods’ absence from school. Some others were curious about where they could watch him on TV. Some even attempted to manipulate by using explicit or implicit profanity.
Take a back seat.
Swing that garbage ass and score…
The child is garbage!
If your child had won the state title in high school golf, would anyone say such about them?
Tiger Woods’ 15-year-old kid. In the end, he shot 16 over 86 and came in 64th place. Fortunately for the time being, he will not be moving on to Monday’s open qualifying, so his PGA Tour debut will have to wait.
You can release yourself if, as a parent, you have placed value on your child’s athletic accomplishments. No one’s son or daughter, including yours, is likely under the same pressure to achieve or fail as Charlie Woods.
He has shown us he is a strong player, playing on the winning state championship team in Florida and putting up highlight-reel shots playing alongside his father in the PNC Championship.
And yet, it may not ever be good enough for us.
Forget unrealistic expectations. These expectations are impossible.
They can serve as a reminder for all sports parents of how lucky we are. We have the opportunity to see our kids play every week, sometimes every day, without the world watching his or her every move.
If Charlie Woods was your kid, and you knew the pressure he was facing, would you be critical of him? Would you tell him the things he might do differently in all those games you watch? Or would you cherish every moment you had to watch him proudly following in your enormous shadow?
It’s not always the case that pursuing our passions is the greatest example we can provide our children. It’s the way we consistently act, behave, and present ourselves. No matter how far their careers take them, it’s about allowing our children to remain children for as long as they can. Additionally, it involves firing them when they fail to live up to our standards.
Yes, this is Tiger Woods, the winner of 82 PGA Tour events in addition to 15 major titles. He appears to be a father who watches out for his son, though, just like any of us.
“I find it bothersome that he looks at his phone nonstop,” Tiger Woods reportedly remarked in December, as reported by Sports Illustrated. “Just look around and put your phone away.” The fact that most children no longer gaze up is something that I believe all parents deal with on a daily basis. Everybody is glancing downward.
During pre-qualifying for the 2024 Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches at Lost Lake Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida, Charlie Woods makes a shot from behind the green. (Image: AP Images via Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire)
“Just look up; the world is so beautiful all around you. Look around you.” However, the way people see life is through their screens, and everyone is doing so. He’s always looking down, and there are so many lovely things all around you that it sometimes drives me crazy.
They are both excellent players, but they are also father and son first, based on what we can see of their connection in public.
At the PNC Championship, Woods refrained from giving his kid interviews. However, Charlie did stop at the turn to respond to queries from Will McGee, the 12-year-old son of two other golfers, Annika Sorenstam and Mike McGee.
“My mother was curious because I rarely listen to her advice on swinging. When he gives swing tips, do you follow his advice? Will enquired.
Charlie said, “It doesn’t happen very often.” “Yeah, when I’m really desperate.”
Woods hasn’t placed any outside pressure on Charlie or Sam, his older soccer-playing sister. At the PNC Championship, Sam also caddied for her brother and father.
Tiger remarked, “It couldn’t have been any more special for all of us.” “It couldn’t have been more special for me to have both of my kids inside the ropes like this, participating and playing, and being part of the game of golf like this.”
“Today, I had pretty good ball driving. At the same tournament, Charlie claimed, “I didn’t miss a fairway.” “Despite not missing a single fairway, we shot eight under. We are simply terrible putters.
His dad smiled as he listened intently.
“That was the perfect summary,” he remarked.
Charlie Woods might play and even do well on the PGA Tour at some point in the future. One day, he will no longer be able to play the sport. Someday, your child will experience the same moment.
Larry Berra, the eldest son of Yogi Berra, lost his ambition of being a major league baseball player in 1972. It remained a desire unrelated to his father’s illustrious career until he spoke with Whitey Herzog, the New York Mets’ director of minor league development.
Herzog needs to let rid of Larry Berra if he wasn’t living up to the team’s expectations. His wish was fulfilled. All believed he was freed in any case.
Like Charlie Woods, he was battling with ailments while in the lower leagues, but that shadow has always been with him.
Larry Berra told author Mark Braff for the book “Sons of Baseball,” “I was in the on-deck circle when we went to one town when I was playing in the Appalachian League.” “I was repeatedly yelled at by a guy who said, ‘You’re not as good as your old man.'” I turned around and said, “Listen, I wouldn’t be in this little town of yours and I wouldn’t have to listen to you if I was as good as my father.” And my coach yelled at me.”
Like a lot of previous big league baseball players, Yogi Berra did not force his kid to carry on his father’s legacy. Those demands materialized on their own.
Despite the similarities between Tiger and his son’s swings, we must resist the urge to compare them to Charlie Woods.
We wouldn’t harm our own child in this way, would we?
The next time you bring your kid off at a travel team tryout without anybody else around, ask yourself that question.
Since 1999, Steve Borelli, also known as Coach Steve, has worked as an editor and writer for USA TODAY. He coached his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams for ten years. Now that they have a middle schooler and a high schooler as athletes, he and his wife Colleen are enjoying their life.