15-Year-Old Charlie Woods Satisfying a Crowd of Hundreds with 9 Birdies on Day Two of Junior PGA Championship
Charlie Woods surged into contention at the Junior PGA Championship with a brilliant six-under-par 66 in the second round. Starting with a birdie-bogey, he then caught fire, rolling in five birdies over six holes to make the turn at five-under 31. He added birdies at holes 12, 14, and 15 to reach eight-under for the day before consecutive bogeys set him back. A par on the final hole secured a 66, placing him at seven-under overall and solo fourth, six shots behind current leader Lunden Esterline at 13-under.
Charlie opened the tournament with a steady one-under 70 on the Ackerman-Allen Course at Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Indiana. His second round on the Kampen-Cosler Course launched him more than 40 spots up the leaderboard and briefly into second place—a position that would qualify him for the US Junior Ryder Cup team. The top two finishers will join the 12-player squad to take on Team Europe later this year in New York.
This strong performance marks a sharp turnaround from last week, when he missed the match play cut at the US Junior Amateur Championship after rounds of 83 and 74. It was his second straight missed cut in that event.
The Junior PGA Championship is a four-round stroke-play competition with a 36-hole cut to the top 60 players plus ties. A secondary cut trims the field again after round three, with only the top 30 and ties advancing to the final day, which will also be played at the Ackerman-Allen Course.
Charlie Woods appears well-positioned to make it to Friday’s final round and will aim to capture another big victory following his Team TaylorMade AJGA Invitational win. On the girls’ side, Asterisk Talley leads the field.
