Tiger Woods reveals more about his relationship with son Charlie Woods on ‘Another Golf Podcast’.
Tiger Woods has revealed the life lessons his father once taught him that he now applies to his 15-year-old son Charlie Woods on ‘Another Golf Podcast’ hosted by Adam Rehberg and Emilia Migliaccio.
Woods talked about trying to get inside Charlie’s head to help him move forward on the golf course.
Charlie also revealed Tiger to be a forgetful caddy in their first joint interview.
The 15-time Major champion spoke at length about a number of different topics on the podcast sponsored by Bridgestone Golf, but one of the most interesting topics revolved around his relationship with Charlie.
Woods explains that he will never be his friend but he will always be his dad.
Here’s what Woods had to say:
“I told him a long time ago, and this is the life lesson dad taught me. I said ‘Son, you’ll never be my friend, okay, I’ll always be friendly, but you will always be my father. As such’ Dad, it is my responsibility to always give you advice and motivation in an environment to learn, grow and prosper, and to be the one to make the decisions right in life, especially when dad is no longer there. That’s my job.’
“So I said ‘don’t ever call me your friend, I’m not, I’m your dad, call me Pops… he calls me other things and it’s okay with me , but I just want him to understand that and I think that’s a parent’s responsibility. You can always be friendly, my dad was always friendly with me, but first he was my dad.”
Woods also spoke about protecting Charlie, not wanting to put any pressure on his potential future career on the PGA Tour.
He wants Charlie to just enjoy golf and the media to stop making comparisons.
“Charlie is my companion when we go out but I’m his dad so I protect him.”
“Obviously I want to see him do the best he can, and I want him to learn from everything but protect him from all of this, this environment, especially today, when I was growing up, there were no camera phones, no videos and stuff, I tried to scare everyone away and let him enjoy himself. Let him have fun and be a kid.
“When he first played PNC, he was an 11-year-old kid in sixth grade. He’s in eighth grade now but he’s still a kid. Let him enjoy it.
“Don’t compare him to me, he’s not me, he’s Charlie, he’ll be his own person, no matter what path he takes. He’ll follow his own path and create my own path, and that’s for me as a father.” It’s important for me to provide that environment. Whatever path he takes, I just want him to be the best.”