Butch Harmon says he never saw Charlie Woods play golf. But he has seen his father.
And the legendary instructor knows what he would give Tiger Woods if he brought his son to visit with him.
Along with what he would return.
It all made for a fun exchange during a recent appearance by Harmon on SiriusXM’s “Katrek & Maginnes On Tap.” Woods turned 50 on December 30and few understand it better than GOLF 100 best teachers in the hall of famewhich guided Woods to eight of his 15 major championship victories.
But Harmon admitted he had yet to see Woods’ 16-year-old son up close. Understandably, though, he’s intrigued.
“I don’t know if I would take it full time. I would be sure — my curiosity would make me sure to do it once just so I could see the baby,” Harmon said on the show. “I’ve never seen him play. And he’s got the right last name and I’d like to have a look at him, that’s for sure.
“I mean, obviously if he asked me to do it, I’d be more than happy to do it.”
Harmon had a wish, too, if the meeting ever happened.
He wishes old Woods was there.
And why?
“Because we could have a little fun with it,” Harmon said on the show. “Because I’d like to stick a needle in Tiger and say, you know, when you’re that young, you can’t do it the way he’s doing it.
And how would Woods respond to that?
“I can’t say on the phone,” Harmon said.
If you’d like to listen to the interview, SiriusXM’s social media team shared audio of Charlie Woods’ herealong with three other tracks (which you can listen to here, here AND here.) Interesting among them was a story of Harmon’s first meeting with the elder Woods.
She came in 1993 to the Lochinvar Club in Houston, where Harmon worked as director of golf.
“He just lost, I think it was his third-round match at the Amateur Championship,” Harmon said. “And his dad brought him in, and he’s hitting balls, and so I said, like I do with a lot of young guys, I said, ‘So when you’re playing in the tournament and you absolutely have to hit one in the game, what’s your shape? Do you like to draw it or fade it?’ I’m just trying to get a little glimpse into what he’s thinking. He says, ‘Oh shit, I just hit him as hard as I can and I go find him and hit him again.’
“And I’m like, that’s kind of a cocky SOB. But the more I got to know him, that’s how he played when he was a kid. And he was fearless. He was fearless. And you know, one thing – we all know this, that he won six national titles in a row: three juniors, three amateurs – you know, Bobbylla what Jones did, but he didn’t do it. I don’t know is, in each of those six finals, the match went on the last hole, and he won every one of them.
