Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
With Tiger Woods watching, freshman Charlie helped his high school golf team win a 1A state title in Florida.
Charlie Woods finally has something that his father, Tiger Woods, doesn’t have — a high school state championship title.
As a freshman, he fired off a 78-76 through the two-day tournament to finish in a tie for 26th individually. However, his final score was good enough to help The Benjamin School to another 1A Florida High School Athletic Association championship in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
This victory gave the Benjamin School its fourth state golf title, winning by one stroke over First Academy.
Sophomore Jake Valentine tied for eighth overall. He led the team with a 72-76, but his birdie on the 17th hole clinched the Bucs’ championship.
Tiger attended the two-day event, trying to draw as little attention as possible. It was his time to be a dad to his son, not the biggest name in professional golf.
Despite rumors about him being on Charlie’s bag, the Big Cat wasn’t. It would have been against the FHSAA tournament rules for him to caddy for Charlie. However, he was there, watching and observing.
Despite winning what seems like every kind of golf tournament under the sun, Tiger doesn’t have a high school state title on his trophy shelf. He attended Western High School in Anaheim, California, before the California Interscholastic Federation even had golf state championships, per ESPN.
The 15-time major winner won the CIF SoCal Regional in 1991 and the Southern Section in 1991, 1993, and 1994. Of course, the 82-time PGA Tour winner became the then-youngest golfer to win the U.S. Junior Amateur, capturing his first of three in 1991.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
