Long road for Charlie Woods

GOLF is hard enough without having a famous father who set a standard hard to match even by the very best. Tiger Woods is certain to watch that unfold over the next several years.

Jack Nicklaus already has seen it.

A few hours before Scottie Scheffler set out to win the Memorial for the second straight year, Nicklaus was asked about another big win that week.

Charlie Woods, the 16-year-old son of the biggest name in golf, won his first American Junior Golf Association title.

It’s a wonder which win — Scheffler or Woods — got more attention on social media.

“I think it’s tough on kids,” Nicklaus said, speaking from experience.

His oldest son, Jackie, won the prestigious North & South Amateur at Pinehurst and played his college golf at North Carolina. That was nothing compared with his third-oldest son.

Long before Gary Nicklaus became the only one of the four golden cubs to earn a PGA Tour card, he made the cover of Sports Illustrated. He was 16.

“The Next Nicklaus,” said the headline. The father remembers it clearly.

“It ran him out of golf,” Nicklaus said.

Some context is required. Gary Nicklaus played four years at Ohio State (one title), earned a European tour card and got through Q-school in 1999 to earn a PGA Tour card. But Nicklaus felt the publicity was too much for his son at that age.

“Gary would get off the 18th and run to the car so he didn’t have to talk to the press for about two years,” he said. “Sports Illustrated said they wanted to do a story. We said, “No cover, none of that.” They put it right on the cover. It was not nice what they did.” Nicklaus also thought the publicity was over the top when his grandson, G.T., made an ace in the Par 3 Contest before the 2018 Masters.

“That’s the kind of things you’ve really got to try to avoid with kids,” he said. “It’s difficult for them. It’s even tougher today. Charlie is a nice little player. He’s got a beautiful little golf swing. Does he want to follow his father? Does he realise what’s going on?”

Woods was in the Detroit area last summer when his son qualified for the US Junior Amateur.

Charlie attracted the largest gallery, said to be 10 times the size of a normal crowd for that event. Or were they there to see his father?

Nicklaus knows that feeling, too.

“Gary would always say, ‘I wonder how many people are going to come out watching my father watch me?” Nicklaus said with a chuckle.

He doesn’t know much about Charlie Woods except for what he occasionally sees on television, and Nicklaus is impressed with the swing. A lot of juniors have great swings.

The depth today at the highest levels of golf is evident long before these kids start getting courtesy cars. — AP Sports.