A Woods was back in the winner’s circle this weekend – but not the one golf fans grew accustomed to seeing.

This time, Tiger Woods played caddie to his son Charlie as the 14-year-old shot the best round of his fledgling career to win his age group’s regional qualifier for the Notah Begay III Junior Golf National Championships.

After opening with a one-under 71, the youngster rattled off nine birdies to post a career-low 66 at Mission Inn Resort in Orlando, Florida and stamp his ticket to the championship finale at Koasati Pines in Coushatta, Louisiana in November.

With rivals closing in down the final stretch, Woods displayed the type of calmness under pressure that saw his father amass 15 major championships, finishing with back-to-back birdies to triumph by a single stroke.

“It’s hard to think, ‘You’re tied for the lead, you have to go shoot a low round to win this thing,’” the 14-year-old Woods told tournament organizers.

“So just take it one shot at a time, don’t think too far ahead. Just gotta keep eating.”

And naturally, being able to call on the advice of a caddie with 82 PGA Tour triumphs was a useful resource, the pair pictured together in an Instagram post from Shane Croft, the father of Woods’ tournament playing partner Chase.

“It’s great, we just stay in our own little world and take it one shot at a time,” Woods said of his partnership with his dad.

“He puts me in my place. I’ll talk about the next tee shot and he’s like, ‘No. This is the shot we’re gonna focus on. Focus up, this is what we’re gonna do.’”

It’s not the first time the duo have teamed up on the course. The 47-year-old Woods was also on bag duty at last year’s regional qualifier, held at the same venue, where a then-career-best 68 round saw his son finish tied-fourth.

A few months later in December, the pair donned matching outfits at the PNC Championship in Orlando to tie for eighth in a star-studded 20-player field made up exclusively of players to have won a major or The Players, plus their relatives.

No Tiger at the Ryder Cup

Yet the 15-time major winner’s course appearances have been few and far between since, as the long-term effects of his February 2021 car accident injuries continue to hamper his playing time.

Woods competed at The Masters only to withdraw early, then proceeded to miss the subsequent three majors in 2023, undergoing “successful” ankle surgery in April.

It left him with a scant chance of making a ninth Ryder Cup appearance at the 44th edition of the tournament in Rome on Friday. American captain Zach Johnson did not rule out selecting Woods when asked about his potential inclusion in January, but – given his limited competitive appearances – a call-up never looked on the cards.

Charlie Woods has taken his opportunities in front of the media at the PNC Championship to get some jabs in at his dad Tiger Woods.

After their round on Sunday, where the Woods duo shot a 65 to put them at -20 for the two-round event, Charlie took the opportunity to make fun of his legendary father.

“Yesterday, that’s the best he’s ever played in a while. And that kind of shocked me,” Charlie said.

On Saturday the duo shot 59 and held a share of second with Team Singh, chasing down Team Thomas. Charlie clearly wasn’t expecting that kind of performance. Tiger followed up his son’s remark by saying “I used to be good.”

Apparently Tiger and Charlie’s rounds are full of jabs being thrown back and forth. After their round on Saturday, Charlie said the fun remarks help to keep the nerves down.

“It makes it a lot less nerve-wracking in the final stretches because we always throw shots at each other,” the younger Woods said. “And it’s just very fun.”

Tiger agreed with his son’s sentiment.

“It’s literally nonstop. It starts pre-round. Before we even got here, the texts were flying. And then warmup, the jabs were coming out. And then throughout the round, there were jabs, there were a couple notes left here and there, a couple things said that we love.”

Hello friends and happy Friday from the U.S. Open!

A few small notes right off the bat: this event has the best media center food I’ve ever had, the baristas are putting a fun touch on my vanilla lattes AND I recapped the Taylor Swift concert with Michael Greller and Bones Mackay.

Also, Los Angeles Country Club is a tough walk. I’m putting in about 17,000 steps a day and I still haven’t seen parts of the course yet.

I want to give a special shout-out to Salma Ibrahim, the junior reporter who helped cover the tournament on Wednesday. Salma hung out with Kira Dixon, met players and grilled Max Homa in his presser. I got to show her what a day in my life looks like on-site at a major championship, but I’m not sure she needed much of my help — she’s already a star.

I need to really take advantage of my gig now, because Salma is 100 percent coming for my job in a few years.

Charlie Woods at LACC

Tiger Woods hasn’t played in a U.S. Open since 2020, but another Woods was on property at Los Angeles Country Club on Thursday: Charlie. He’s gotta be the only 14-year-old with an inside-the-ropes pass this week. Trust me, those things are not easy to come by.

This is the only photo I’ve seen of Woods at LACC, which is pretty impressive because the golf world is obsessed with the kid. I can’t help but wonder who is in charge of the recent eighth-grade graduate out here. Is someone making sure he’s staying hydrated? Putting on sunblock? This is the supervision my little brother needs on a regular basis.

It looks like Charlie is having an all-time Los Angeles golf week. He teed it up at Riviera the day before making it out to LACC.

That swing looks pretty good, too. Not a bad way to kick off summer vacation! I spent my summer after 8th grade babysitting my siblings for free, but to each their own.

Phil’s kicks

It took me a while to get used to Tiger in FootJoys. Once Dustin Johnson started rocking them too, I pretty much thought I had seen it all golf footwear-wise. But nothing prepared me to see Phil Mickelson rocking Jordans on the golf course.

Seeing a 53-year-old man in those kicks reeks of Steve Buscemi in the “how do you do, fellow kids?” meme, but Phil has always transcended his age, so I have no choice but to respect his fashion choice here.

I checked out the Surgeon’s website, and he has a pair of kicks listed at $5,000 and another at $10,000. If you’re not sure how to spend your tax return next year, there’s an idea for you.

USGA’s jokes

The U.S. Open may be the toughest event to qualify for, but once you get here, the USGA is pretty relaxed. Over the years, the governing body has had its fair share of fun with players, from Max Homa’s giant credential to Webb Simpson’s locker nameplate. This year, they’re having a lot of fun with the players at LACC.

It started off over the weekend, when the USGA presented Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler with a tandem bike instead of their Lexus courtesy car.