Multiple major champion Jack Nicklaus has urged Tiger Woods to make sure his teenage son Charlie continues to play golf for the right reasons.
Golf legend Jack Nicklaus has urgedĀ Tiger WoodsĀ to make sure his teenage son Charlie continues to play golf for the right reasons.Ā
NicklausĀ enjoyed an incredible career and over the span of 25 years amassed 18 major wins alongside 73 PGA Tour titles.
The Golden Bear also finished as a runner-up in a major on 19 occasions.
He officially retired from major championship golf in 2005 after playing his finalĀ Open at St Andrews.
Nicklausā son Gary also turned pro and spent three years playing on theĀ PGA Tour.
The fourth of Jack and Barbaraās five children, Gary was viewed as the most likely to succeed in the game.
He was featured on the front cover ofĀ Sports IllustratedĀ and billed as āThe Next Nicklausā but never managed to make an impact on the game.
To this day, that still rubs the 85-year-old the wrong way.
āGary would get off the 18th and run to the car so he didnāt have to talk to the press for about two years,ā Nicklaus said.
āSports Illustrated said they wanted to do a story. We said, āNo cover, none of that.ā They put it right on the cover. It was not nice what they did.ā
āThatās the kind of things youāve really got to try to avoid with kids.ā
CharlieĀ is making more noise than ever and recentlyĀ captured his firstĀ American Junior Golf Association victory at last weekās Team TaylorMade Invitational.
The 17-year-old finished with a three-round score of 15-under to win by three strokes. The field included several top-ranked amateurs.
Charlie has since rocketed up the AJGA boysā rankings. Last week, he entered the tournament in Florida ranked 609th. Now he is 14th.
Nicklaus said it has always been difficult for the children of high-profile golfers.
āItās even tougher today,ā he added. āCharlie is a nice little player. Heās got a beautiful little golf swing. Does he want to follow his father? Does he realise whatās going on?
āMy kids played because they wanted to play, not because I wanted them to play. That was sort of my rule of the house. Donāt play golf because of me, play golf because thatās what you want to do. Thatās what they wanted to do.
āThen they figured out over a period of time they werenāt going to get to where they wanted to get, and they decided to do other things.ā
Charlieās breakthrough victory is already opening doors.
The Benjamin School junior has received an invitation to play in the Northeast Amateur at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rhode Island.
The tournament will be played over 18-21 June and past champions include the likes ofĀ Collin Morikawa,Ā Dustin Johnson, Luke Donald, David Duval and Nick Dunlap.
It remains to be seen whether Charlie will accept the invite.
In a video posted to X, the Northeast Amateur co-chairman Mick Hogan explained Charlie could help āelevateā the event.
āHeāll probably be arguably the biggest draw to come that week,ā he said.
āWeāll wait and see what happens if it does come through, it could be an unbelievable week for everybody because I think weād have a lot of turn out.
āA lot of eyes on the event and not just on Charlie. Everyone else in the field. Weāll see what happens.ā