You can never really separate Charlie Woods from his dad. The surname will follow him forever. It might have its perks, but it’s heavy with a legacy. Amidst the weight, Charlie needs to build his own identity, yet the blood running in his veins makes it impossible. The one person who sees Junior Woods every single day knows of this: his coach.

“He wants to be perfect,” Tony Harbeck told the Daily Mail on December 26th. “And that doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Tiger Woods‘s greatness was always fueled by an obsessive relationship with perfection. Naturally, Charlie has absorbed that drive. But the weight of them might be too much for his young shoulders; as you may remember, Woods didn’t always do well running after perfection.

In pursuit of excellence, Woods often put himself up against an intensive regimen. Early in his career, he ran over 30 miles a week. It “pretty much destroyed” his body and knees. The most extreme example of this was the 2008 US Open.

A torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and a double stress fracture in his left tibia were clouding him when he stepped on the course. He ignored doctors’ firm advice to rest for weeks and played. He eventually won the tournament, but days later, he had to get reconstructive surgery. He missed the rest of the season. A perfect major win, but at what cost? Tiger played emotionally, and so does Charlie. Harbeck sees the similarity.

Charlie was unwavering, taking his team to the Florida State Championship victory with an impressive score of 4-under par. During the event, an incident stood out to Harbeck. On the 17th hole, Charlie ended with a par, though he had aimed for a birdie. His frustration and disappointment were quite visible. As he recovered on the 18th hole with a birdie, Harbeck had already taken notes. Eventually, Charlie’s standing solidified. He held a ranking of #9 in the AJGA and is regarded as the fourth-ranked player nationally in the Class of 2027.

“I can tell immediately when he hits the shot… whether it’s good or bad,” shares the coach who’s known for his elite pedigree. From coaching the sons of Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin to Justin Leonard, Harbeck knows eye-to-eye what perfection is. “I can’t describe it to you. But I can always tell.”

The consequences of Tiger’s drive have now seeped into his middle age; nobody wishes that for Charlie. Every month brings a new health crisis, taking him further away from pro golf. Regret might surround him, and the only way he can redeem himself is by not letting his son walk on the same path.

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Tiger Woods’s advice for Charlie

For years, Charlie Woods didn’t praise himself. After every perfect round and high-pressure situation, his heart desired bigger and better things. After he won his first AJGA title, he shared his exact thoughts openly.

“I haven’t been able to say that I have done that, and now that I can, it is a big thing for my mental game going forward.”

That’s a mindset quite similar to his dad’s: “Keep going forward, no matter what.”

Charlie’s mind is always focused on the next challenge. While that is an appreciable quality, it’s rather huge for a teenager. He wants to perpetually evaluate himself because he has an internal standard of excellence. This was noted quite early on by Tiger Woods.

In 2021, observing his son, Tiger noticed Charlie’s emotional reactions to poor shots. As he obsessed over one mistake, it would be carried over to subsequent shots.

“His temper carries over into another shot, another shot, another shot, and compounds itself,” Tiger recalled.

Finishing his junior season at the prestigious Benjamin School, Charlie is set to captain the team the next year. Harbeck doesn’t stammer when he puts his belief in the 16-year-old for the upcoming season: a bigger and better Charlie. Charlie won his first AJGA victory (TaylorMade Invitational) in May and secured a T9 at the Junior PGA Championship.

Charlie’s anger should be channeled into his game, something Tiger has been known to do throughout his life. But what’s also true is that Tiger was running after his own ambitions. Charlie, on the other hand, has to run as the son of the greatest golfer of his era.