Juniors
Charlie Woods shoots final-round 66 to claim AJGA's Team TaylorMade Invitational
Mike Ehrmann
After opening with an outrageous two-under 70 and following it up with a seven-under 65 at Streamsong Black, Charlie Woods closed out the AJGA's Team TaylorMade Invitational with an impressive six-under 66 on Wednesday. That was enough to pick up his first career AJGA win by two strokes over Willie Gordon, Phillip Dunham and Luke Colton.
Woods, the 16-year-old son of 15-time major winner Tiger Woods, made eight birdies and two bogeys in the final round, finishing with a total of 15-under 201.
"It means so much because I haven't really performed at the highest level yet," Woods said after the round. "And to finally do it after all the work I have put in and not playing well in big events in the past. Even though, I know I am so much better than that and for it all to finally come together is such a great feeling."
In his previous four AJGA events, Woods had a high finish of T-25 at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, which featured a field of 36 players and was won by lefty phenom Miles Russell. This week's Team TaylorMade Invitational featured a field of 71 top junior players, among them Russell, who Woods beat by seven shots.
Russell, who had won the prior three AJGA events he played in, is currently ranked No. 1 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings. Colton, who Woods beat by three, is ranked fifth. Tyler Watts, the seventh-ranked player from Huntsville, Ala., shot 11 under, four back. Woods was ranked 606th (the second-lowest player in the field) but is projected to move into the top 20, according to the AJGA. He also gained fully exempt status for AJGA events with the win.
The AJGA captured video of the winning putt, among other highlights:
"Just being able to say to myself that I have won an absolutely amazing event and say that I have performed under high pressure situations is huge going forward," Woods said. "I haven't been able to say that I have done that and now that I can it is a big thing for my mental game going forward."
Woods made 25 birdies over the course of three rounds, plus one eagle. In his first round he made just three pars, but managed to battle out a two-under 70 that kept him in the mix. He played the final 36 in 13 under to claim the victory.