Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, is firmly in the running at the Junior PGA Championship after recovering from his disastrous early exit from the U.S. Junior Amateur

Charlie Woods made a solid start to his Junior PGA Championship campaign(Image: Tim Heitman/Getty Images)

Charlie Woods showed his class as he bounced back from missing a cut with a strong opening round at the Junior PGA Championship.

The 16-year-old has followed his legendary father into the game, recently completing at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. It was a tournament Tiger won three times.

But Charlie’s attempts to follow suit ended in disaster as he missed the cut by some margin. After a horror opening round of 81 left him at 11 over, he fared better in his second round, posting a three-over 74 at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Texas.

At 14 over, he was well short of the three-under cut line and had to pack his bags early. Undeterred, the teenage Woods returned to action straight away at the Junior PGA, which has seen golfing prodigies from around the globe flock to the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Indiana.

He displayed his dad’s legendary resilience by posting a one-under round of 70 thanks to some consistent fairway hitting. The round left him handily placed in 43rd in the 156-player field.

Woods, who didn’t face the media after his round, delighted the hundreds of watching fans. Long-time Tiger supporter and Birck Boilermaker club member Joe Couch sang his praises.

Per the IndyStar, he said: “Tiger was the reason why I played golf and it’s a cool experience to see everything and see Charlie play. It’s surreal watching Charlie play at a course I play at every day.

Tiger Woods watched on as Charlie missed the cut at the U.S. Junior Amateur(Image: Photo by Tim Heitman/Getty Images)

“There’s a couple of shots I think he’d want back but I also feel like he’s playing well. He’s handling his emotions and there was a lot of commotion but I thought he was playing well.”

Ryan Eli, from nearby Frankfort, took his sons Ryker and Cole to watch the action. He said: “It’s just great seeing all this amazing talent and being a lifelong fan, getting to share this experience with my boys is something I’ll treasure.”

Woods is due back out on Wednesday morning as he aims, first, to make the cut, and then make an impression higher up the leaderboard.

Woods has put his recent disappointment behind him(Image: Tim Heitman/Getty Images)

His U.S. Junior Amateur Championship blip aside, Woods’ form is trending in the right direction. In May, he won his first American Junior Golf Association tournament at the Team TaylorMade Invitational in Florida. He carded a six-under final round of 66 to win the tournament on 15 under at Streamsong Resort’s Black Course in Bowling Green.

Woods finished three shots in front of Phillip Dunham, Willie Gordon and Luke Colton. He started the event 604th in the AJGA boys rankings, with his previous best tournament performance being tied for 25th at the Junior Invitational in March.