The name Tiger Woods holds immense weight—after all, he’s a legend with 15 major wins and 82 PGA Tour titles. That kind of dominance creates an undeniably intimidating presence. While it’s a major advantage for the GOAT himself, it can prove be a double-edged sword for his son, Charlie Woods. Take the 2025 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, for instance—Charlie finished tied for 25th out of 36 competitors and was unable to deliver an ideal performance. As the pressure surrounding him grows, John Daly’s son has also shared his perspective on the situation.
Recently, John Daly II was on the Identity Sports Podcast. He shared about his journey from growing up in the world of professional golf to finding his identity. Daly II first talked about how he feels about John Daly as his father. He said, “I get this question a lot, like what’s it like having John Daly as dad. Honestly, how you see your dad is how I see mine. He’s just a father to me, he taught me basically everything I know. I think those high expectations went around my head a few times, it used to, at least. ”
While he is keeping things casual, it’s not possible for everyone to be like that. To talk about it, he took Tiger Woods and Charlie Woods as an example and said, “People expect just because you have a famous professional, like Tiger, for example. Tiger and Charlie, I feel like everybody just put Charlie in this category that not many people get to until they are 20, 21, or 22, whatever it is.” However, Daly II can relate to Charlie as there isn’t much age gap between the two and said, “He’s just a kid, he wants to have fun, I guess I think people expect way too much of him for his age right now. I definitely feel some of the stuff he is probably going through.”
Woods Jr not only has the pressure of the performance but the attention of the media and community, which increases the pressure even more. However, Daddy Woods is aware of this and acknowledges that this is a different time. Back in 2024, during the PNC Championship, he talked about it and said, “No. It’s a different time and era. I didn’t have this much attention.”
Tiger Woods also believes that his son is doing what he should right now and further added, “That’s what Charlie is doing. He’s playing golf with us, and then playing the high school matches. The type of attention is very different than what I had. We didn’t have social media. We didn’t have camera phones.” The pressure of media and performance certainly gets to Charlie, as other golfers alongside him believe the same.
Charlie Woods has a lot of “pressure with his name”
Back during the 2024 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, Charlie Woods struggled. He finished the opening round 12 over-par with a score of 82. His playing partner, Davis Ovard, later spoke about the experience. He said, “The amount of pressure he has on him is unbelievable. I can’t imagine being in his shoes.” The pressure Charlie felt makes sense. This is the same tournament that Tiger Woods won three times in a row during the mid-1990s. At the time, Tiger was the same age as Charlie is now.
Charlie’s second playing partner, Chase Kyes, also shared that even looking at Tiger Woods is intimidating. To this he added, “I looked over at him [Tiger Woods] a couple of times, but I really tried not to. There’s a lot of pressure with his name.” Although Woods is aware of all this and said back in 2022, “He’s in 8th grade, but still, he’s a kid. Let him go out there and be a kid, enjoy it. You don’t nitpick kids. And don’t compare him to me, because he’s not me, he’s Charlie, OK?” Unfortunately, things aren’t going as planned.
What do you think about Charlie Woods and the kind of pressure he is feeling right now? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!