Tiger Woods Has Message for Those Who Want to Compare His Son to Him

On a recent podcast appearance, the golf superstar discussed wanting his son, Charlie, to carve his own path.

In recent weeks, Tiger Woods has been increasingly open when talking about his son, Charlie. The father-son duo is set to tee it up next week in the PGA Tour’s family team event, the PNC Championship. At the tournament, Woods will focus on the competition, but he’ll also be occupied with something else: being a dad.

Speaking on Bridgestone Golf’s “Another Golf Podcast,” Woods went into depth about how he views his time on the course with Charlie, and his protective instincts as a father.

“I want him to learn from everything, but also I want to protect him from all of this. You know, the environment,” Woods said. “Especially in this day and age, when I grew up there were no camera phones, no videos and stuff. I try to shoo people away. Let him enjoy. Don’t put any pressure on him.”

Tiger wants Charlie to gain all the lessons that come with playing in such a unique competitive event, but he knows that the spotlight will subject his son to the opinions of others. Those opinions include comparisons between Tiger and Charlie.

“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,” said Tiger.

“And don’t compare him to me, because he’s not me, he’s Charlie, OK?,” Tiger continued. “He’s going to be his own person. Whatever road he goes down, he’s going to go down his own road and he’s going to create his own path. That to me is so important to me as a father, that I provide that environment and that support so that he can go down whatever path he wants to, I just want him to be the best at it.”

At the end of the day, Tiger just wants Charlie to be known for being Charlie, and he was not shy to express that on the podcast. He is excited for his son to blaze his own trail and excel in whatever he decides to put his energy into.