Charlie Woods shoots 76 as leaders post 68 at Junior Players

Charlie Woods shot a 4 over 76 in the opening round of the Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass on Friday, leaving the 16 year old roughly seven to eight strokes behind joint leaders Miles Russell and Nicholas Logis. Woods, a junior at the Benjamin School and the son of Tiger Woods, struggled on the front nine but steadied on the back, finishing his first round at the famed Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Woods opened with back-to-back bogeys and posted a 40 on the front nine that included only one birdie and three pars. He improved on the back nine, carding a level-par 36 that featured two birdies and a bogey, but a closing bogey on the 18th left him with a 76. He made par on the par-3 island green at 17, one of the course's most notorious holes. Tournament reports varied on his exact standing, placing him around the high 30s to low 40s on the leaderboard, but all accounts agreed on his 4 over score. The leaders, Russell and Logis, each shot 4 under 68 to share the clubhouse lead.

Russell, who won the event in 2023 at age 14 and is ranked No. 1 in the AJGA, produced seven birdies and three bogeys in his round. He and Woods were seen practicing together...