Charlie Woods coverage reaches cringeworthy new level | Golf Channel Podcast | Golf Channel

In this week’s episode, the guys dive into why Anthony Kim is making his competitive return this week in Saudi Arabia and discuss how the coverage of Charlie Woods’ pre-qualifier went so wrong.
#GolfChannel #GolfChannelPodcast
0:00: What stood out the most this week
01:15: Anthony Kim’s competitive return … why now?
06:45: What happens if this comeback goes poorly
08:00: Charlie Woods plays a PGA Tour pre-qualifier
15:00: The perils of following a sports superstar
17:45: The non-signature event status of the Mexico Open
25:00: Rex and his son take on Harbour Town
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Charlie Woods coverage reaches cringeworthy new level | Golf Channel Podcast | Golf Channel
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Hello and welcome into this edition of the Golf Channel podcast with Rex and lav Jake knp went from a broke nightclub bouncer to PJ tour winner and Masters participant in just four short years Anthony Kim meanwhile set to make his competitive return after 12 mysterious years away and Charlie Woods just 15

Years old causes quite a scene at a PJ tour pre-qualifier Rex what stood out to you the most this week well when you have a PGA Tour winner who only hits two Fairways in the final round that’s always going to sort of ARR you know kind of bring up my

Radar a little bit just because I’m curious about that but once you kind of once I got onto the shotlink site sort of broke down the stats he led the field and strokes gain TD green I think this is just an example a prime example of

How you still have that power play in the game that hitting Fairways on certain golf courses like this one which is a resort course really isn’t that big of a deal as long as you’re giving yourself wedges in you’re giving yourself plenty of opportunities he led

The field and birdies so that one was a little compelling to me when I woke up but it’s got to be Anthony Kim we’ve talked about this I mean and I’ve I’ve racked my brain since I wrote that story a few days ago just trying to come up

With any kind of comp in any other sport like give me an example of someone who walked away for 12 years from whatever their particular sport was and came back like forget about had success uh had some sort of you know Resurgence forget about all that tell me someone that just did

This I I mean you can there I don’t think there’s any sort of comp it’s not you know you think of Patrick Klay who who kind of missed three years because of a a back injury this was I I guess partially injury motivated but his game

Was kind of going into a little bit of a tail spin and it’s the the mysteriousness of his disappearance the insurance policy what all goes into that I mean we’re talking about a dozen years Jordan spe had not yet played on the PGA tour with Anthony Kim last played a PJ

Tour event at qu Hollow in 2012 that’s how long it’s been and Jordan spe now almost like an elder Statesman a 30-year-old on the PJ tour it’s it’s it’s remarkable I guess the question when it comes to Anthony Kim Rex not what do you expect because I don’t think

Anyone is is expecting too much but why Saudi Arabia why not come back at Vegas if he’s gonna play on live why not play in Vegas why not play in Miami why is he making his stop this week that uh that was the question I asked well I mean

There kind of a two-part question one Why Live Well because he’s going to get paid I mean we all know whatever the urban Legend is about this insurance policy it’s somewhere between $10 million and $20 million which probably 12 years ago sounded like a lot of money

To you and I but now given where we are in the state of the game over the last three years that kind of sounds like well $10 million do you kind of take it or leave it that’s that’s a good year on the PGA tour a half a good year on Liv

Goof whatever the case may be so it has to be money is the reason why he’s coming back and he’s chosen Liv goof I’ve been told by sources that he was actually in conversations with both PJ tour officials and live golf officials because he wanted to figure out whatever

His best Avenue was going to be but to your question that’s what I asked one of my sources at Liv golf is why this week why Saudi Arabia when you’re essentially going to be playing in the middle of the night you’re not making the most of whatever this investment is you’re right

It would have been so much better in Las Vegas and lacking that you know maybe if that wasn’t going to work out then wait a few weeks when they play in Florida right before the Masters like don’t you want the best impact from this well to

Me the answer is is probably no and I can see why Saudi Arabia makes sense for a couple different reasons one it provides sort of a protective cocoon it’s in the middle of the night you’re gonna have very few fans on site um you know just the the sickos are going to be

Watching on the CW app to see how he performs I’m certainly going to be one out of them but I also think Rex if you’re live golf you can Trot Anthony Kim out as sort of they they that they captured Bigfoot here you know that they

They can they can they can Trot him out all the people that they need to with the piff and Saudi Arabia and say look we brought Anthony Kim back basically from the abyss this is this is I think a a a show of strength and I’ve seen the

Argument well this this just kind of diminishes live it hits at its credibility you’re you’re you’re trying to you know trumpet how strong this is however it’s the exact same thing as if Anthony Kimmer is receiving a sponsor exemption to the PJ tour it is a little

Bit of a sideshow it is kind of just a a a fan draw and so I don’t get that argument at all as a knock on live golf because the PJ tour head Anthony Kim Joe and PJ tour would have opened their arms in any single tournament to try and

Bring back bring him back into the fold oh no doubt this goes back to what I I just said I mean he was in conversations with both sides he was trying to figure out whatever the best deal was going to be for him going forward and and I guess I get your point

That’s a fair point and it it’s going to be in the middle of the night he is in this C and I love the idea of catching bigfoot like we just caught Nessie like that’s what he and this is what he’s going to be for lack of a better term

And this is no disrespect towards Anthony at all he’s the bearded lady at this point because I don’t we don’t know if he can still play at all by some accounts you hear about him hitting balls on a range somewhere and and that he looks good that he’s been ramping up

To this but after 12 years you would have no idea now maybe that changes over the next few months when he actually gets back into some sort of competitive form and we start to see some version of the old Anthony Kim I was talking with my son about this yesterday about the

Idea do you does the name Anthony Kim stand out to you at all and he’s he’s a golf fan now he’s sort of that generation of young golf fans nope just blank just crickets so I guess on one part I’m kind of questioning you’re right he’s the bearded lady like we we

Tred him out see Pro that we can bring this guy back from the abyss but to a certain element of the audience they have no idea who he is you might as well just roll Ben Hogan out there for all they know I mean this is just someone

That that is is a name from the past that you may have may have not heard of I mean in his prime he only won three times but man he was entertaining he’s exactly that guy that Li goof would want he’s the Bryson D Shambo for lack of a

Better term of that era because he made a lot of headlines he was Brash he was flashy he was fun if he brings back a modicum of that then it will be a victory for lip goof yeah I I agree I mean he’s he’s a character and this is a

Time when golf desperately needs more characters I’m of the belief that you know I have just a hard time that he could be competitive and I’m sure we’ll get into this more on the Wednesday podcast where we’re recap or we’re kind of previewing this week’s tournaments

But I just can’t help but think that if this does not go well this could be a disastrous sesow of him shooting 7576 and could really alienate fans who have been so invested in where he is what he’s doing what potential kind of was was left out on the table uh if if

This doesn’t go well um and so so that’s that’s kind of where I sit at this point but I mean I’m going to I’m going to tune in just like probably hundreds of other thousands of fans are going to be tuning in just just to see what he

Brings yeah because you’re right on this front he’s not going to get the benefit of the doubt he’s not going to get a Runway everyone wants to see Anthony Kim from 2012 like before he got H he’s got he’s got two or three events to to make

This happen and if it doesn’t we’re gonna we’re gonna move on to the next shiny object that’s just that’s just how it works in the sports world now as a board member on the gwa I think I’m going to send a a message out to the

Entire board that if he does pull this off like whatever version of success we want to call you know Anthony kibs comeback after 12 years we need to rename the Hogan award which goes to someone who has suffered through some sort of injury and come back because I

Don’t know that there would ever be in the future a comeback comparable to this I mean it would be a phenomenal story if he can play well it’s just hard to imagine that he actually could Rex let’s focus a little bit on Charlie Woods shot an 86 at a pre-qualifier to the MonDay

Qualifier for the cogniz Classic this week’s event Formerly Known the Honda Classic at PJ National obviously did not make it through that but I think even more uh attention grabbing than the score was the attention that it received both from fans on site I’m sure people have seen the Palm Beach Post article

Kind of highlighting some of the poor Behavior but also the PGA Tour uh sending an entire video team to document uh his round for this pre-qualifier what kind of what what was your what was your takeaway from his score his round his attempt and also the coverage of the

Event yuck e it was just all yeah it was all kind of gross like look and I’m not talking about his score he went out and and tried to play I’m sure he tried to compete as hard as he could and he kind of gives him an idea where his game is

And things he needs to work on all that’s that’s one side of this conversation and good for him like he’s a teenager let’s give him an opportunity to do this the other part of it was just gross like I read a couple of the stories about people demanding

Autographs and wanting pictures and them needing to have police officers on site I mean it’s and look maybe I remember the first year that tiger played with Charlie and the PNC and I remember feeling kind of the same way about myself and and what we do you know not

Just at Golf Channel or NBC Sports but all of the journalists who were in that tent that year like a like I don’t feel good about this like it it was Tiger’s decision to bring him in to the spotlight but I still feel kind of gross

After this it was it been different the last like last December when he was there he looks more like a young man and he carries himself more like a young man he’s not a child anymore which is what he was the first time he played the PNC

This though I mean just the coverage and every everything you hear about the parents and the fans I mean just yuck I mean so so most people’s reaction on social media was you know stop it let’s just let the kid grow up in anonymity and play and see how he fares and I

Don’t necessarily I don’t necessarily agree with that I certainly understand the attention by playing the PNC the last couple years with tiger he’s essentially opened himself up as a as a public figure I mean that was a conscious decision by Tiger to put him in the spotlight he clearly thought he was

Ready he clearly thought he could handle it he clearly knew the scrutiny and the atttention it was going to receive and he still signed off on it and so I think the best comp and you’re you’re a basketball fan Rex is is is bronny James who’s now a freshman on the USC

Basketball team he’s averaging like Five Points a game he’s basically a non-factor for the Trojans but his dad LeBron played kind of the dawning of the social media era just like Tiger Woods did he’s now one of the all-time greats in basketball and bronny James is is

Trying to follow the same path and make it to the NBA to to follow his dad but he bronny James has had cameras on him all the way since AA ball you know there’s there’s just going to be a built-in Fascination to how he plays and so I understand I understand the the

Scorecard grabs and I understand kind of keeping track of him on junior golf scoreboard and seeing where his rankings are and seeing what sort of Interest he might Garner among college coaches what I didn’t like this particular week was the I I would I would just call it

Cringy attention that it received rather than just focusing on the scores and whether it was good enough it was the the it was the autograph Seekers it was the PGA tour’s own Department making the conscious decision to send a team there to document it it’s just so cringy it’s so

Disrespectful for how I think you should be treating a 15-year-old in in this environment and I also I also question kind of the the strategy that involved here you know maybe it was to try and get Charlie um you know accustomed to going low in a single day event which is what

You’re you know that’s that’s going to be the case in in anything whether it’s college golf pro golf like you’re gonna have to put the peg in the ground and see if he could shoot 67 which was the score that he needed to to get in here

But he’s also never played an agj agga event he has a sponsor exemption coming up he’s never played in qualifiers for the US amateur or the US junor you know I I highly doubt that team Woods could thought could think that that Charlie could slip in under the radar and just

And just play this pre-qualifier without him knowing but the fact that they keep signing off on this is a little bit of a of a head scratcher as well that’s that’s definitely something that tiger needs to be asked in a couple weeks time assuming he plays at the Players Championship

What did you think of the attention and what’s kind of the strategy in the social media world to to handle it I I don’t mind you know tiger deciding you know Charlie needs to go out and do this more to your point and we had a colleague at Golf Digest I think did

This during the PNC Championship where he kind of broke down because you and I probably get the same questions all the time it’s right around PNC like how good is Charlie Woods like his swing looks just like his dad is he gonna be great and like our colleague Jay coffin kind

Of broke it down in a very interesting way kind of pointed out like this is what his amateur record is and for the State of Florida for his age group he’s probably in the top one-third he’s not number one he’s not number one in all Juniors like it needs to be pointed out

Because he hasn’t done those things that you just pointed out like he’s a good player I think he was the fourth player out of five on his high school team that won the state championship last year kind he kind of the five he was kind of

The five six man that ended up winning the state championship I mean he clearly has a lot of talent anyone who watches the PNC like that dude’s got a great swing got tons of speed like lot of potential there but he’s not there yet

No he’s not so you you one half of this is looking at it from the dad’s perspective you know just because your dad’s Tiger Woods he still has to make the same decisions we have and you’ll have to make the same decisions with your kids at some point when it comes to

Whatever sport they choose to play do you push them do you want them just to enjoy it do you want them to to push themselves against better competition that’s what this feels like he wanted to do he wanted to send sort of Charlie Into the Fire and see like okay this is

What you have to do when you have a pencil in your hand and a scorecard in your back pocket you’ve got to post some sort of score you’ve got to figure out a way to get it around for 18 holes that I’m fine with going back to the part

About the attention when it ends up on Sports Center and I guess bronnie is a really good comp because I have rolled my eyes when I’m watching sports center and I hear them talk about bronnie getting three points in the second half against whoever and you’re like I’m sure

Someone on that team got more than three points like that that could he could have been the high scorer in the second half like that’s not fair to him that’s not fair to the rest of the team it’s kind of not fair to the sport it’s the

Nature of media we’re both in media I understand that but yeah again you just felt like it was just dirty and I I don’t know that there’s any way around it it’s not going to scale back from here every time now he shows up at that that US Open qualifier or maybe even

Another Monday pre-qualifier it’s going to be the same thing and like I obviously I was not around for Jack Nichol’s children’s pursuit of a professional golf career but the the game has just changed in in Myriad ways with social media everybody’s a keyboard Warrior everyone has a cell phone like

There’s just there’s nowhere to hide whether he’s playing in high school golf whether he’s playing in these sorts of qualifiers whether he’s playing in the PNC like there’s just such a microscope now that that children of famous athletes endure it’s just it’s just a very unpleasant place I can imagine that

You would want to reside you know I would not want to be in that position you you want to have every um you want to have every right you want to have every opportunity to kind of chase your dreams and there’s so many more obstacles that are put in front of these

Kids of famous athletes now than that just didn’t exist 20 or 30 years ago and so I certainly empathize with that I I understand the attention certainly but I empathize with Charlie I empathize with tiger trying to kind of protect him as as as long as you can but it’s just it’s

A cruel vicious world and it’s it’s going to be really really difficult to to make it well and I can kind of see the thought process here because I’ve watched Tiger’s attitude on this change since he first since Charlie first played in the PNC that first year tiger

Was very very protective as he should with I think char was 12 at the time when he played in the first one like I I I would be just as protective I would hope I’d be just as protective with my kids where he didn’t like he wasn’t involved in the interviews he didn’t

Want to do any post game stuff with him he just wanted Charlie to be there for the golf be on the Range be be there for the golf it changed at last year it has evolved to the point that Charlie is right there next to him in the post

Round you can tell the way he carries himself and again I think this is Tiger Woods the dad P pushing his son to take on new things to experience new things because sounds to me like he’s he remembers what his dad Earl did with him

And okay I need to push Charlie in this particular case and luckily he has this quote unquote luxury of being able to put him in the the spotlight and decide how it’s going to sort of unravel I don’t know because I wouldn’t have seen this coming I wouldn’t have expected it

Would have gotten as ugly and dirty and people demanding autographs and and selfies and needing so much security at a at a pre-qualifier like I I’m kind of with tiger on this one like I would have had no idea that it was going to blow up to be that

Disgusting it’s gross I think the PJ tour sending a video team is a decision I’m sure was was highly scrutinized inside HQ as well but I wonder if there’s any regrets on making it a bigger deal than perhaps it was speaking of the PJ tour Rex the Mexico open I

Guess was kind of the the the tail end of the official West Coast Swing the PJ tour now moves to Florida what did you think of the Mexico open Tony F now was the headliner there’s not many fans on the golf course have not seen the ratings information but I can’t imagine

That that set any records and yet I was still I wouldn’t say captivated by the action but I watched it not just because I had to but I watched the three hours of coverage and I still think there’s room on the PJ tour calendar for these

Types of Events maybe it’s not you know the the elite level World Tour concept that Roy mroy others have been pushing maybe uh it’s you know it’s more part of this hybrid PJ tour B circuit and corn fairy tour mix but as long as you’re allowing for uh and promoting upward

Mobility which is what Jake knap now experiences by winning the Mexico open getting into the signature events for the rest of the season getting into the Masters uh being now on the verge of cracking the top 50 in the world a whole you know new plethora of opportunities

Are available him to him by winning the Mexico open to me I think that’s still an interesting storyline to watch and and a reason why you know true hardcore golf fans can still appreciate the Mexico opens of the world yeah it’s aspirational absolutely and I think that’s the selling point for the PGA

Tour and look this is still very new and I think the tour is going to to sort of wrestle with what it is they’re trying to create I said this the other day our last week I think during one of our round tabls that this is the tiered

System that they’ve created and so they’ve got to figure out a way to make both sides of this work for the players it works as you pointed out that was pretty much the Mexico open was the the the full field season is now getting started you have Mexico you have the

Cognizant classic coming up this week and this is an opportunity for those players to play their way in and you’re right like I mean suddenly the world opens up for nap he has an opportunity now to do something that he probably didn’t plan on when he started his

Rookie season on the PGA tour and and that’ll happen to someone else in a few weeks when they go back back into the sort of that full field um swing of there so I I do love the concept of it I was playing golf in South Carolina

Yesterday right about the time they were finishing and kind of went to the clubhouse and I was amazed how many people were in there watching the coverage and sort of talking about it and asking about it probably not players that they recognized right off the top

Of their head probably not a golf course that they recognized right off the top of their head but if you were a passionate golf fan you’re were probably watching yesterday and I think that’s what you’re going to see with these full field events and there was Zero Focus on

Money I couldn’t tell you how much Jake knap won I’m assuming since it was a full field event on the PJ tour it’s somewhere between 1.5 and $1.6 million that was of little importance that was of little consequence what was most important to Jake knp is now the Avenues

For Upward Mobility that he has to to me that was the the perfect example of what these events could be you had Jake knap who graduated off the corn fairy tour uh by all accounts is a player with a ton of potential you see the easy ball speed

Cruising over 190 hits the absolute hell out of it even though he was a little bit erratic on Sunday in Mexico and he was going up head-to-head against Sammy valaki who graduated from a DP World Tour now you have the 10 cards in the European tour getting on to the pg tour

And that promotion like that is exactly what this BC level tour should be um and so I thought the actual Runway of that again I’m not sure that it resonated with fans outside hardcore PJ tour fans but I think that’s that’s perfectly okay you you clearly had a venue in Vidant

That wanted them to be there you have uh Benjamin Selenas and the Selenas group that clearly wanted the PJ tour uh in town as well I’m I’m all for it not every event needs to be $20 million and everyone’s just focused about the 3.6 million that the winner is going to get

These types of events can resonate as well 1.45 million is how much he which is still a good payday but to your point given where we are in the state of game I just scoffed at a $10 million insurance policy at Anthony Kim so it’s all become Monopoly money at some point

And we sort of gloss over it I I I I think that’s a really good point because what you’re going to end up with is sort of these es and flows and there’s not going to be many Tony fenal I really don’t think in between here but you also

Have the idea and you mentioned uh Sammy he finished in second place there was a moment I read a story this morning about on the 18th hole where he sort of wedged his t-shot under a fence and he’s trying to decide what to do and he asked the

Tour official what the score is and he wasn’t asking how far off he was from nap he was asking how far the folks in third were from him because he was thinking ahead to the Aon five I need to make sure I lock up my spot in Bay Hill

Probably the player championship I would think um no maybe not I don’t think the A on five do get but at the very least Bay Hill they next 10 and the swing FES so I think he would be in the swing five which would get him assuming you know

End be for sure the perfect the perfect run out yeah in this week uh in in Palm Beach Gardens he should be able to get into Bay Hill and then perhaps parlay that in the PLAYERS Championship as well so I I think that’s what you start looking at from what’s

Going to motiv motivate these players and it clearly was motivating him in that moment he wasn’t worried about trying to pull off some sort of Miracle shot and win the event I think he had to hole out from the Fairway do something ridiculous he was thinking in very very

You know clinical terms about what do I need to do to make sure I lock up this really start at Bay Hill in a few weeks and I think you’re going to start seeing more and more players do that my curiosity and we probably won’t be able

To unpack this until we get to the end of the season is what kind of impact is this going to have on players schedules like Jake knap like you know he’s a bad example because he’s won now but he’s a rookie on the PGA tour and my guess is

Like most rookies or or players who aren’t inside that magical number to get inside the Signature Events there is he’s trying to figure out some sort of EB and flow that I can play my best in between these Signature Events with the hope of getting in and then when I do

Get in now all of a sudden you’re probably playing three four five maybe six weeks in a row so it’s going to create an interesting opportunity from a schedule stand standpoint for players yeah it’s certainly a small sample size at this point we’re sitting here at the

End of February but you just look at the field this week for the cognizant classic you’re you’re having guys who graduated from the corn faery tour who aren’t able to get in you have guys who got through Q School who are not able to get into what is supposed to be their

Opportunities these full field events where you can have the week of your life parlay that into then a start in the signature event series and then you’re offing running it I I think the early returns recks have been that guys are playing a whole lot more than maybe

People thought both the the the players who are even in Signature Events were playing in full field events or even guys with higher priority making sure that they get their starts this is such a Sprint now with the season through January through August for the different cutoffs now to just get into the

Playoffs or or retain your card and to try and get some time off you don’t have to play all throughout the fall as well yeah it’s definitely become a little bit of a pinch again small sample size uh but this week’s event at PJ National is a good indication that guys are playing

A lot more golf I think the PJ tour potentially realized before we go Rex your your video quality is a little bit spotty your audio has been a little spotty what do you have going on this Monday the Courtyard Marriott in Hilton Head does not have good Wi-Fi at least

On the fourth floor so I do apologize for that I’ve kind of noticed so please please suffer through this uh and Hilton Head for Heritage media day I came up with my son we played golf yesterday with a friend of mine at Old Tabby links and now we’re playing harbort toown

Today and he keeps asking me how many balls should he have Dad how many golf balls should I have and the answer is the same always a lot just just bring a lot because your game probably isn’t going to translate real well onto this golf course just go out and enjoy

It so much OB so many trees so many hazards so oh it’s just that is a extremely difficult claustrophobic layout I know the world’s best players make it look easy you and I played there probably at this point seven or eight years ago uh back when I was actually

Playing decent golf and you can be in the Fairway and totally blocked out it was maddening it was frustrating it was infuriating I’m glad you’ll be joining us on golf today to spare you probably three or four holes in the middle of your round that you will not be able to

Play but Gods spe to both you and your son Cole I hope you guys have a great day at one of I would certainly call it one of the best venues on the PJ tour schedule all right that is going to do it for this edition of Golf Channel

Podcast with Rex and lav as always we’ll be back uh two days from now for a preview of this week’s cognic classic as well as Anthony Kim’s competitive return in Saudi Arabia there’ll be so much to unpack just 48 hours from now in the meantime you guys know the drill make

Sure you go to NBC sports.com golf for lest news notes commentary features and everything else in the world of golf we’ll talk to you soon have a great rest of your Monday and Tuesday