Charlie Woods' Benjamin School in contention with 18 holes to play at State Championship

Charlie Woods kicked off his bid for Florida state glory with a rollercoaster 74 as the 16-year-old son of Tiger Woods teed it up for Benjamin School at the Florida Class 1A State Championship.

The two-day, 36-hole showdown is being played at Mission Inn Resort’s brutal El Campeón Course in Howey-in-the-Hills — a layout known for punishing anything even slightly offline, and Charlie certainly felt its bite.

Despite flashes of brilliance, including four birdies, Charlie mixed in four bogeys and a double to sign for a lively opening round that left him T19 on the individual leaderboard.

But the real story is brewing at the top of the team standings because, well quite frankly, that's all that matters for Charlie this week. 

After day one, the state title is shaping up to be a three-way dogfight between Orlando First Academy, Palm Beach Benjamin, and Orlando Circle Christian.

First Academy set the pace with a 1-under 287, edging one clear of Benjamin and two ahead of Circle Christian heading into Saturday's decisive final round.

Benjamin were kept in the hunt thanks to a superb 68 from Alexander Tsar, tying him for the lead with First Academy’s Mingbo Jiang.

The Bucs arrived to the Florida Class 1A State Championship with serious pedigree. 

They qualified for state after cruising past defending champions Oxbridge Academy at Regionals and sit as the No.1 ranked high-school team in Florida, per the FHSAA iWanamaker rankings.

As for Charlie, this season has already been a landmark one. 

Just last week he was named a first-team All-American by the AJGA — the very same honour his father earned back in the early 90s. 

Charlie was one of only 12 boys nationwide selected for the prestigious list.

The AJGA accolades keep rolling: Miles Russell, Walker Cup alternate and one of America’s top prospects, earned Player of the Year for the second straight season, matching Tiger’s back-to-back triumph in 1991 and 1992.

Charlie currently sits ninth in the AJGA rankings, propelled by his breakthrough win at the Team TaylorMade Invitational in March. 

He also delivered a stunning hole-in-one at TPC Sawgrass’ iconic 17th during the Junior Players Championship.

That ace wasn’t even his first in competition — he famously made another alongside Tiger at the PNC Championship in December 2024, the last time we saw the 15-time major champion tee it up competitively.

Tiger, now 49, remains sidelined after the seventh back surgery of his career, with no comeback timeline in sight. But he’s approaching a major milestone: he’ll be eligible for the PGA Tour Champions next month when he turns 50.

Woods also has interest in the LPGA's Annika tournament this week since the daughter of his girlfriend Vanessa Trump, Kai, is making her LPGA debut at Pelican GC, which is some two hours away from where Charlie is competing at Mission Inn Resort. 

Tiger gave Kai some simple advice ahead of teeing it up at The Annika. 

Kai unfortunately finished the week bottom of the board on 18-over par, but she did fight back valiantly in the second round. 

For now, all eyes are on Charlie, who heads into the final round with his team firmly in the title hunt — and with another chance to show why he’s becoming one of the most-watched juniors in American golf.