Tiger Woods watches his 15-year-old son Charlie shoot a 12-over 82 at the U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills

“He qualified,” Tiger Woods told his son’s caddie after the tough round.

“That’s what I keep telling him,” said caddie Luke Wise.

Woods cemented his place among the world’s top juniors when he posted a 71 (-1) to win his qualifying match last month in Coral Springs, Florida.

He will have to make a big turnaround Tuesday on the Oakland Hills South Course, which Ben Hogan dubbed “The Monster,” to be among the low 64 scorers in a field of 264 players from 40 states and 35 countries.

Charlie Woods is the only person in the world who knows what it’s like to be Tiger Woods’ son. And now he knows exactly what it’s like to compete with all eyes on him.

At an event that normally draws a few hundred people for the championship match, there were about 100 people waiting on the first tee to watch Charlie play while his father watched. And at least as many spectators followed them for hours.

Oakland Hills had six men assigned to help with crowd control. That wasn’t enough, and another 10 men were sent to hold ropes to give the players — and Tiger — some space.

After Charlie hit his tee shot on the seventh hole and left behind his tee, decorated with a palm tree, a fan dug it up from the ground to keep as a souvenir.

“I feel like he’s feeling pressure,” said John Pinch, 35, of Warren, Michigan. “If his dad could talk to him, he’d probably try to calm him down.

“You can see that he is really disappointed.”

Charlie was frustrated and showed it, hitting and slamming his clubs on the ground after botched shots and shaking his head from side to side.

His father was relatively powerless, as the rules prohibited parents from coaching their children during the tournament.

After a brief pre-round chat on the practice green, Tiger didn’t say a word to his son and didn’t even appear to make eye contact as he watched from a distance, surrounded by police officers – at least one of whom was taking photos – and security personnel.

Tiger no doubt wished his son could hear him on the 181-yard, par-3 fourth hole.

An official gave Charlie assistance after his ball hit a metal cap on the right side of the green.

“He’s going to get a club length,” Tiger said, standing out of earshot of his son.

Tiger wanted his son to move the ball to the left, but Charlie chose to move the ball to the right.

“No, no, no,” Tiger muttered to himself. “Go the other way.”

Charlie finished with his first of five double bogeys on hole 4, supplemented by four bogeys and two birdies – on both par 5s.

He was wild off the tee – often missing the ball to the right – coming up short on a series of flop shots from the thick rough and hitting over the greens a few times.

Tiger was 14 when he qualified for his first US Junior and reached the semifinals. He won his first US Junior a year later, becoming the only player to win the tournament three times in a row.

Tiger traveled from Scotland to the suburbs of Detroit after posting his highest professional score over 36 holes at the British Open, missing the cut in a major for the third consecutive time.

AP Golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf