Charlie Woods Slips to Even Par at Junior Players Ahead of TaylorMade Debut Week

Charlie Woods will head into the final round of the Junior Players Championship with work to do. The 17-year-old carded a 1-over 73 on Saturday on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, leaving him at even par through 36 holes and four shots behind a three-way tie at the top.

Sam Carraher, Dawson Lew, and Giuseppe Puebla share the lead at 4-under. Woods, who opened with a 1-under 71 on Friday that had him tied for eighth, will start Sunday’s final round at 8:10am tied for 14th.

A Roller-Coaster Second Round

Saturday’s round was defined by inconsistency. Woods made birdies on the 2nd, 3rd, 10th, and 18th holes, but five bogeys — on the 4th, 6th, 11th, 12th, and 16th — erased the progress and left him scrambling to stay within range of the leaders.

The event, which marks its 20th anniversary this Labor Day weekend, features 78 junior golfers from 16 countries and 19 states, including 13 players from the 2026 Junior Presidents Cup squads. According to Golfweek, AJGA executive director Stephen Hamblin has overseen the organization’s growth from 13 annual tournaments into a 145-event national schedule since taking the role in 1984.

TaylorMade Partnership Adds Spotlight

Off the course, Golf Monthly reported that Woods has signed a name, image, and likeness deal with TaylorMade, formalizing an equipment relationship observers had already noticed in his bag. His setup includes the Qi4D driver and fairway woods, P7CB and P7TW irons, MG5 wedges, and TP5x golf balls — a shift away from the Titleist driver he previously used.

The move puts Woods among a growing roster of sponsored junior and professional athletes in an equipment market long anchored by Titleist parent Acushnet Holdings Corp., whose shares traded at $86.88 on Friday, up 0.33% from a prior close of $86.59, valuing the company at roughly $5.05 billion. TaylorMade’s push to sign high-profile young talent underscores the competitive stakes in the golf equipment space, where NIL deals have become a new front in the battle for brand loyalty among the next generation of players.

Sunday’s Challenge

Four shots back on a course famous for punishing errors, Woods faces a demanding closing round — made all the more high-profile by the family connection to TPC Sawgrass, where his father Tiger won The Players Championship, and by the added attention that comes with his new status as a branded equipment staffer.

What to watch

• Woods’ final-round tee time at 8:10am Sunday and whether he can close the four-shot gap to the leaders.
• How his TaylorMade equipment performs under final-round pressure at Sawgrass.
• Further NIL signings involving elite junior players as brands compete for emerging talent.

Source: original release