Charlie Woods, the 16-year-old son of legendary golfer Tiger Woods, shot a three-over 74 in the final round of the 2025 Junior PGA Championships at Purdue University on Friday to finish tied for ninth place.
Woods was tied for second entering the fourth round after carding a pair of six-under 66 rounds on Wednesday and Thursday, but he never quite found his rhythm on Friday.
While Woods was 12-under through three rounds, he was well off the pace set by the 54-hole leader in Lunden Esterline, who sat at 19-under after the first three rounds and went on to win by six strokes with an overall score of 19-under.
Still, a second-place finish would have been huge for Woods since the top two finishers in the tournament were guaranteed a spot on the United States Junior Ryder Cup team.
It would have been Woods’ first time playing in the Junior Ryder Cup, but now he may be hard-pressed to make the squad.
According to ESPN, Woods could technically still make the team as a captain’s pick, but since he is ranked 20th in the American Junior Golf Association rankings, it is considered unlikely that he will be chosen.
On Friday, Woods hung around even-par for much of the round before sinking a birdie putt at No. 12 to move to 13-under:
At that point, he was tied for fourth and just two shots back of second, but his round unraveled from there, as Woods played the final six holes at four-over.
While Woods suffered a setback of sorts in the final round of the 2025 Junior PGA Championships, he has done plenty at a young age to show he has a bright future ahead of him.
Most notably, Charlie has been teaming with Tiger at the PNC Championship since 2020, and they have turned in several strong performances, including second-place finishes in 2021 and 2024.
Charlie has also won multiple tournaments at the junior level, including the Team TaylorMade Invitational this year, and even attempted to qualify for the U.S. Open back in May.
A top-two finish this week would have represented another huge leap forward in Charlie’s career, but given his age and continued improvement, there will be plenty of opportunities for him to bounce back.
