Charlie Woods's Rough Day at the U.S. Junior Amateur, According to ESPN
Tiger Woods's teenage son missed match play after a playoff-hole mishap that ESPN attributes to a phone shutter — a detail The American Times could not independently verify
By Roxanne "Flashbulb" Starr
There's a reason golf crowds are told to silence their phones, and Charlie Woods found out why the hard way this week — at least according to the one outlet that reported it.
The 17-year-old son of Tiger Woods failed to advance to match play at the U.S. Junior Amateur after a playoff hole went sideways, according to ESPN. ESPN reported that on his third shot of the first playoff hole, a phone camera's shutter click, at the wrong instant, broke his concentration on the shot — and with it, his chance to continue in the tournament.
This account rests on a single published report by ESPN; The American Times could not independently confirm what caused the missed shot or the sequence on the playoff hole, and neither Woods, his family, nor tournament officials have addressed the moment on the record. ESPN's report is brief and doesn't include a quote from Woods, his father, or tournament officials about the moment, so The American Times isn't going to manufacture one.
Charlie Woods draws a gallery — and a headline — that most 17-year-old golfers never will, simply by being his father's son. That comes with expectations he didn't ask for and, on days like this one, with scrutiny over a bad break that a less famous name might never have made the news at all. It's worth saying plainly: nothing in ESPN's account suggests Woods did anything but lose focus for a split second, the way any golfer might — and that account remains unconfirmed by the Press.
We'll watch for his next tee time. For now, the tournament moves on without him.
If I can't source it, you won't read it here.
— Compiled from reporting by ESPN.
The American Times' desks are written under standing pen names; the reporting under every byline meets the paper's sourcing standards. See "About Our Bylines."