At the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, widely known as the Junior Masters, Charlie Woods stumbled and finished dead last with a 26-over par total, while his future teammate and rival, Miles Russell, won his second consecutive gold jacket with a total score of 15-under par. For Woods, the disaster in Sage Valley started quite early.
On Thursday, Charlie recorded two triple bogeys, but then he showed some fight by making five birdies. Sadly, he still ended the day at three over par. Friday brought more trouble for him than before. He tried to fight back with two early birdies, but his short game let him down. Late double bogeys on holes 15 and 16 pushed his score to a 4-over 76. During the third round, he completely lost his game.
Advertisement
Woods Jr. shot a painful 83, which was his worst score of the entire week. He bogeyed seven holes and carded a triple bogey while finding only one birdie all day. He concluded the tournament with four double bogeys, two bogeys, and two birdies. On the contrary, the AJGA Rolex Junior Players of the Year and the ultimate winner, Russell, shot an amazing 64-70-72-67 to clinch the title. This awful week is strange because Charlie had a good season last year.
In May 2025, Charlie shot a career-best 15-under par at Streamsong Resort to claim his first AJGA title, beating a field that included four of the top five-ranked players. Then he played the anchor role for his high school, firing a standout 4-under 68 in the final round to lead the Bucs to their second FHSAA Class 1A state title in three years. And his rise from a rank of 838 to No. 21 in the AJGA rankings earned him a spot on the Rolex Junior All-America First Team.
But the Junior Invitational is not just any game. Only the top 36 junior players get an invitation to play. The list of past winners includes Scottie Scheffler (2014), Akshay Bhatia (2018), Joaquin Niemann (2017), and Austin Eckroat (2016).
Advertisement
This year featured the strongest field ever, with all the top 10 AJGA players present. Stars like Tyler Mawhinney and Luke Colton were there to fight. Charlie entered the week ranked 20th, hoping to show he could beat the top-ranked kids. However, the pressure of playing against the elite seemed to weigh on his young shoulders.
For instance, Russell is the world’s current #1 junior golfer. In 2024, he became the youngest player to make a cut in Korn Ferry Tour history at the LECOM Suncoast Classic, eventually finishing T20. And most recently, in March 2026, he made his first cut in his fifth PGA Tour start at the Puerto Rico Open, finishing T50 at 5-under par before coming into the tournament.
No matter how painful or joyful these moments were for Woods and Russell, it is just a part of their flourishing careers.
Charlie Woods and Miles Russell will carve a new legacy at Seminoles
Charlie surprised many when he chose Florida State over Stanford as his university. Tiger Woods famously starred at Stanford from 1994 to 1996, and Charlie’s sister, Sam, is currently a freshman student there. So when Woods Jr. picked the Seminoles after finishing high school, it was quite a move.
Advertisement
But the rumors of him joining the Seminoles were already there, and it started when FSU head coach Trey Jones was spotted following Charlie’s rounds and discussing the game with Tiger Woods at the Mission Inn Resort. And Woods Jr. officially announced his choice in February, saying he was very excited to join the ‘Noles.’
Miles Russell has also verbally committed to play college golf at Florida State University (FSU) in June 2025.
Now, with these two on the roster for the coming years, the FSU golf team will surely win!
Read the full article here