PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL – Charlie Woods thought his tee shot at No. 17, the iconic par-3 island green, at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass was wet.
He tugged it left of the flag and overcooked his wedge from 137 yards to a back-right hole location and when it disappeared from view behind the flag, Woods was looking for a verdict – wet or dry – and pointed his index finger down, flashing the universal sign for ‘did I rinse it?’ But none of the spectators behind the green seemed to understand him. “I have no idea,” Woods muttered in disgust.
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Finally, one of the fans gave the safe sign as if an umpire calling the play at home plate and Woods’s mother, Elin Nordegren, piped up with the good news.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” Charlie said after the round, confirming he thought his ball was swimming with the fish.
As luck would have it Charlie’s ball had stayed dry on the grass bridge that players use to get to the green, which technically makes it a peninsula green but too late — island green has become part of golf’s vernacular. Woods even had room to take a normal stance but this would require delicate touch and he showed he’s got hands like his dad, a two-time Players Championship winner on this fame Pete Dye layout, not to mention 15-time major champion, and plopped it to tap-in range.
Both of Charlie’s fellow playing competitors in the group commended him on the shot. He walked off the green with par and a big smile on his face as he said to his mom, “I don’t ever want to have to do that again.”
Charlie Woods lines up his putt on the 14th hole during the first round of the 2026 Junior Players Championship.
On a hot, steamy Friday, Woods posted 1-under 71 in the first round of the AJGA Junior Players, a solid start for the 17-year-old Florida State University commit, who is playing in the 78-man field this year on a sponsor invitation.
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Woods, who started on the back nine, battled back from a sluggish start. At the par-5 11th, he took aim at the green with a fairway wood and the club immediately came flying out of his hands and to the turf. “God dammit, oh, no,” he said as the ball splashed into the water fronting the green. It led to the first of two bogeys on the back nine. The other was a three-putt bogey from about 40 feet. As the 5-footer slid by on the left, his mom bent her knees trying to will it in and let out an audible, “Oh.”
No sighting of Charlie’s dad, Tiger, at the first round. Last year, when Charlie finished T-31 and made an ace at No. 3 in the first round, he was here with girlfriend Vanessa Trump. Elin was solo, dressed in Athleisure wear and a stylish straw bucket cap for sun protection, and carrying two umbrellas should it storm. [They blew the horn suspending play for inclement weather no more than 10 minutes after the round concluded.]
Elin Nordegren watches her son Charlie Woods on the 17th green during the first round of the 2026 Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Elin was in full mom-golf mode, filming Charlie’s birdie putt at No. 15, getting him Purple Powerade and two bananas at the turn and seemingly living and dying with every shot. It was a good pairing for her as Charlie played in a threesome with Swede Filip Grave, allowing her to converse in her native Swedish with the Golf Institute of Sweden coach.
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After the three jack at 14, Charlie rolled in his first birdie of the day at 15 and another at 16 to get back to even. He poured in a 20-footer at 18 for his third circle on the card in a span of four holes and reached red figures for the first time.
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It’s been a disappointing summer for Woods, who missed match play at the U.S. Junior in a playoff, missed the 54-hole cut at the Junior PGA Championship and finished last at the Future Masters. Despite being ranked No. 306 in the Rolex AJGA Junior Rankings, he’s in the field.
His golf swing looks better than his ranking. It has good width and he makes a fluid transition with the lower body starting toward the target while the upper body is going back. The result is plenty of lag and a swing that dare we say looks Rory-esque.
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Charlie made bogey at the par-5 second hole but bounced back by planting an 8-iron to 18 feet at the par-3 third and sinking the putt. He surrendered another stroke at the difficult par-4 fifth hole but stuffed a 60-degree wedge from 87 yards at the par-5 ninth for a kick-in birdie with his future college coach, Trey Jones, in his gallery.
Charlie stopped to take a photo with a young male golfer who had followed him and after signing his card, conversed in Swedish with his mom over a shot on the seventh hole. He headed to the practice-putting green to iron out his stroke until the rain came and the horn blew.
One round down and Charlie’s lurking at 1 under after surviving what could’ve been a disaster at 17. And he was right about one thing: he definitely doesn’t want to have to play from the bridge again but it sure beat the alternative.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Charlie Woods makes wild par, shoots 71 at Junior Players and other takeaways
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