After a disappointing 10-over 82 on Day 3 of the Masters, Tiger Woods turned to a new swing coach ahead of his 100th career round at Augusta on Sunday: his 15-year-old son Charlie.
With Tiger dressed in Sunday red and Charlie decked out in his father’s new clothing line, it was the young Woods who seemed to be giving advice on the Augusta driving range. Charlie is seen taking some slow shots for the benefit of his father, who was also chatting with caddy Lance Bennett.
“Seeing Charlie Woods on the course teaching his father a lesson,” 2008 Masters winner Trevor Immelman wrote in X. “How wonderful!”
Tiger is coming off a tough outing on Saturday.
He started Day 1 up and seven shots off the lead, and felt capable of making a run at Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and the rest of the leaders. But that was before eight bogeys and two double bogeys, offset by just a pair of birdies, left the 48-year-old Woods at the bottom of the leaderboard instead of at the top.
It was only the fifth round Woods shot in the ’80s as a professional, and only the third in a major. He shot an 80 in the first round of the 2005 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay and an 81 in the third round of the 2002 British Open at Muirfield.
Tiger and his son Charlie Woods leave the practice area in a cart during the final round.
Tiger Woods is seen warming up on the driving range with his son, Charlie.
Tiger Woods talks with his son Charlie and caddy Lance Bennett before the final round
His worst round as a pro came in 2015, when he shot 85 in the third round of the Memorial.
“I haven’t competed or played much,” said Woods, who arrived this week having played just 24 holes of competitive golf this year. “When I had opportunities to turn it around and when I made that putt (for birdie) on 5, I quickly three-putted on 6 and missed a chip on 7 and just made it the wrong way, and when I had opportunities to turn it around turn that around, I didn’t do it.’
It’s hard to turn it around playing from the trees.
After his tee shot on the seventh jumped across the fairway, Woods abandoned his approach in the bunker and made double bogey. In the eighth, he nailed it through the trees, hit and hit another double. And to top off his worst front nine at the Masters, Woods again missed the fairway off the tee, again found a bunker and again took bogey.
Tiger and Charlie Woods are seen in the warm-up area at Augusta wearing dad’s clothing line.
Tiger Woods warms up at the Augusta practice area as his son Charlie Woods watches
Woods played that four-hole stretch before turning in 6 over.
Things didn’t improve for the next nine.
There was a wayward tee shot on No. 11: bogey. The missed 6-footer at the 12th: ghost. The path to the trees at number 14: ghost. The fragmented token of the 15th: ghost. The three putt on the 16th hole: bogey. And more tree problems at number 17: ghosts.
At least his playing partner Tyrell Hatton could sympathize. He four-putted the last hole.
“Sure, he didn’t hit it the way he wanted to,” Hatton said, “but also, the putts he had, the greens are very fast.” Guys, don’t you realize, even a 2 1/2 foot putt is just brutal. They have a lot of twist.
“You start a centimeter from your starting line and it will fail. Then, depending on the pace at which you did it, who knows how far it will go to the end.
Is Charlie showing dad how it’s done? Tiger Woods watches his son take a swing at Augusta
It has been a grueling week for Woods, who had to play 23 holes on Friday after darkness put an early end to his first round. However, he not only persevered through a marathon day, he shot a second-round 72 amid such blustery conditions that the average score was 75.09, allowing him to make the cut for the 24th consecutive time at the Masters. a record.
Woods had handled the ball well, hitting 22 of 28 fairways in two rounds, and made up for some poor approach shots (only 17 of 36 greens in regulation) with an excellent short game. He started the third round in the top 10 in putting this week.
What had been his strength, however, became his downfall on Saturday. Woods hit just four of 13 fairways, made a pair of three-putts and had to try to get his body back before an early exit Sunday.
“My team will prepare me,” he said. “It will be a long night and a long warm-up session, but we will be ready.”