Tiger Woods might have another reason to be more hopeful at Augusta National.

Charlie Woods, his 15-year-old teenage son, reportedly touched down in Georgia on Friday, Adam Stanley of SportsNet tweeted. Woods Jr. was expected to play with Tiger Woods at the par-3 contest. Although that didn’t happen, the young prodigy took time out to cheer for his pop from outside the ropes.

Interestingly, five years ago, this was the very course where Charlie Woods understood what golf meant to his parents. And what his father meant to golf fans. And this April, Woods made his 24th straight cut at the Masters. To put things into perspective, 17 players in today’s field were not even born when Woods last missed the cut at Augusta National.

For the five-time Masters champion, though, the 24th cut doesn’t mean anything more than an opportunity to needle his dad-on-course, Fred Couples. Eyes firmly set on the silver replica of Augusta Clubhouse, Tiger Woods said, he still hopes to be in contention on Sunday.

“It means I have a chance going into the weekend. I’m here. I have a chance to win the golf tournament. I’m only eight back as of right now. I don’t think anyone is going to run off and hide right now, but it’s really bunched.”

 

Undoubtedly, the five-time Masters champion is in much better shape than he was at the Genesis Invitational. Tiger Woods is seventh in Strokes Gained: Around the Greens as of now. The veteran golfer gained 0.97 shots per round compared to the field. To top that, the 48-year-old has been crushing 300-yard drives as well.

Moreover, Woods has reached 21 of 40 greens in regulation as of early Saturday. Yesterday, the 48-year-old was the second-best player in the field in strokes gained around the greens and ninth-best in SG: total. Is another famous hug on the offing? Tiger Woods is a believer, and Charlie’s presence will strengthen his hopes more. But that opportunity, though, could’ve come earlier.

Tiger Woods asked Charlie to come earlier. He didn’t.

Woods and Charlie played together at the 2023 PNC Championship. And the veteran Woods wanted to bring his son to ANGC last week. The teenager passed on the opportunity. Woods came to scout the greens and played a few practice rounds with Justin Thomas and the chairman, Fred Ridley, instead.

USA Today via Reuters

“We haven’t played in a couple years now. I came up here last weekend. He wanted to be at home. So I came up here and got a chance to play with the chairman, Rob, and JT, and we had just an absolute blast,” the veteran golfer said.

But Woods did admit that if Charlie indeed came here some other day—perhaps next year—he had to play at the same tee as his father and his colleagues. No membership tee privileges for the youngster now that he hits past his 15-time Major Champion pop. Charlie Woods tried his luck at the Cognizant Classic pre-qualifier but crashed out after shooting 86.