It didn’t take long for Tiger Woods to get from Scotland to Michigan.
The 15-time major champion shot 79-77 at the British Open at Royal Troon to miss the cut in his third major this year and later boarded a plane to get back to the United States to help his son Charlie begin preparations for his first USGA championship. The U.S. Junior, which begins Monday at Oakland Hills in Bloomfield Township, has a field of 264 competing in two rounds of stroke play that will be whittled down to 64 for match play starting Wednesday. The championship match is scheduled for Saturday.
Charlie Woods, 15, shot one-under 71 last month in South Florida to qualify for the championship, one his father won three straight times from 1991-93.
“The USGA means a lot to me,” Charlie said after earning medalist honors at Eagle Trace Golf Club in Coral Springs. “I want to win USGA championships and hopefully one day the U.S. Open.”
On Sunday, video surfaced of Tiger walking the fairways with Charlie and Davis Ovard, who just finished his freshman season at Baylor in Texas. Charlie is grouped with Ovard and Chase Kyes the first two rounds. They’ll play the North Course Monday at 8:28 a.m. ET, then the South Course at 1:48 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
The South Course has hosted 11 USGA championships in its 105-year history, including six U.S. Opens. It also hosted three PGA Championships and the 2004 Ryder Cup, where U.S. captain Hal Sutton infamously opted to partner Woods and Phil Mickelson in two matches, losing both.
Tiger also played in the 1996 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills as an amateur and tied for 82nd place. The next month he won his third straight U.S. Amateur then turned professional. He did not participate in the 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills, won by Padraig Harrington. He won the U.S. Open earlier that summer at Torrey Pines then had reconstructive surgery to fix a damaged ACL.