Charlie Woods tee-box confusion at PNC cleared up by rules official

Charlie Woods might be just 13 years old, but he still garners plenty of attention.

This week, at the PNC Championship, that spotlight shines the brightest. Having the last name “Woods” has that effect.

Earlier this week, we got a prime example of that trickle-down Tiger effect.

On Wednesday, according to a PGA Tour report, “Charlie was listed among the group of players who would compete from the second-longest set of tees, but with an asterisk next to his name that signified that he had been moved at the discretion of the Tournament Committee.” That led Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis to report that Charlie would play back two tee boxes at the PNC from where he played a year ago, which was picked up by several news outlets, including GOLF.com. If Charlie were to play those tees, he would be playing a setup longer than 6,700 yards, alongside the likes of John Daly and Nelly Korda.

But, according to Joe Terry, the PGA Tour’s chief referee, that decision was never made.

News

“The thing is, there’s no change,” Terry told GOLF.com Thursday. “We had heard that Tiger might wish for Charlie to play a longer golf course. But I had scheduled Charlie to play the tee box for his age with the 13-year-olds. So there’s been no change — he will play from the 13-year-old tees.”

The initial report sparked debate on social media as to the fairness of Charlie playing back a tee box. But, according to Terry, that was merely “ill-founded speculation.” The only reason the rules committee would have moved Charlie back a tee box would have been if his father had requested it.

“If Tiger requested it, we would certainly honor that request,” Terry said. “The committee does have the authority to allow a change if someone wants to play a longer golf course. … Just because he’s playing better and he’s Charlie Woods — we’re not going to punish him because he’s 13.”

Now, Charlie will play from a course that is some 300 yards shorter (6,452 vs. 6,754) than the original report indicated.

Charlie and Tiger Woods are scheduled to tee off in the first round of the PNC Championship at 12:02 p.m. ET on Saturday. You can find full tee times here.