Charlie Woods got off to a slow start at the Junior PGA Championship on Tuesday.
The 17-year-old son of Tiger Woods shot 3-over 75 at Fields Ranch East in Frisco, Texas in the opening round, seven strokes off the lead and tied for 53rd.
Charlie Woods reacts after sinking his birdie putt on the 16th hole during the second round of stroke play of the 2026 U.S. Junior Amateur at Saucon Valley C.C. (Old Course) in Bethlehem, Pa. on Tuesday, July 21, 2026.
Woods bogeyed the first and fourth holes before making his first birdie of the day at the seventh hole. He made a double bogey at the ninth to tour the front nine in 39. On the back nine, Woods traded birdies at Nos. 15 and 18 with bogeys at Nos. 14 and 16.
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Woods finished T-9 at the Junior PGA last year at Purdue University’s Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex, one of the few tournaments his famous father never won. Tiger finished runner-up in 1990.
Conditions were difficult on Tuesday, including 100-degree heat, at the course that will play host to the PGA Championship next May. Only 16 players in the field of 156 managed to break par on a difficult day in which 29 players shot 80 or higher. No one played better than Kailer Stone of Alameda, Calif., who birdied three of the final four holes to shoot 4-under 68 and claim the lead.
“It was just a solid round. I stuck to my game plan,” said Stone. “I focused on each shot individually, and just put a pretty good round together.”
Karolyn Liu, 16 of Katy, Texas, shot a blistering 8-under 64 as the girls played Fields Ranch West.
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The cut after 36 holes will be to the low-60 girls and low-60 boys, plus ties, and after 54 holes to the low-30 girls and low-30 boys, plus ties.
Woods tees off in the second round at 9 a.m. local time.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Charlie Woods struggles in Junior PGA Championship opening round
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