Charlie Woods, the son of legendary golfer Tiger Woods, had his own iconic golf moment at the PNC Championship on Sunday when he made his first ever hole-in-one.
Charlie, 15, delivered the first ace of his young career on the par-3 fourth hole at the Ritz-Carlton Club Orlando during the final round of the tournament, which the father and son duo entered the day leading.
After teeing off, Charlie walked away seemingly satisfied with his shot. That was until the crowds began cheering, signaling that he had nailed a hole-in-one.
Woods, also in disbelief, embraced his son with a big hug as he shouted, "Yeah!"
This weekend marks the fifth straight year Woods and his son are playing the 36-hole tournament. It is also Woods’ first tournament since having his sixth lower back surgery in September.
They continue to share the lead through the front nine on Sunday.
Kai Trump, the granddaughter of President-elect Trump, had a little fun on the golf course when she interviewed two-time Masters winner Scottie Scheffler during the LIV-PGA showdown on Tuesday
Speaking with Scheffler ahead of his and Rory McIlroy’s exhibition match against LIV Golf stars Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, Kai asked Scheffler about his May 2024 arrest when he was charged with several offenses, including second-degree assault of a police officer.
The incident took place as Scheffler was attempting to enter Valhalla Golf Club, site of the PGA Championship, before the second round on May 17.
Kai began the interview asking, "Scottie, you’re too nice, but how was jail?"
"You know, honestly, it was a bit boring," he said with a laugh. "There’s not really much to do in there. I was in a cell by myself and just kind of sitting in there looking at the walls. So, it was a little boring."
Kai, who has captivated golf fans with her vlogs on YouTube following Trump’s successful bid for the White House, then made a lighthearted joke at the expense of Tiger Woods, who had his own run-in with law in 2017.
"I mean, orange is not a bad color though – on you, honestly. You pulled it off just like Tiger Woods," she joked.
Scheffler quipped back, "I prefer the burnt orange a little bit more than the jail cell orange."
The charges stemming from Scheffler’s arrest were later dropped. An internal investigation also found that three Louisville Metro Police officers violated police policy when they failed to have their bodycams activated.
Detective Bryan Gillis received "corrective action" for his role.
Police were investigating the death of a volunteer, who was hit by a bus just outside the golf course, when the Scheffler incident occurred.
Rory McIlroy and Charles Barkley had some playful banter while the Northern Irishman participated in "The Showdown" golf match with Scottie Scheffler against LIV Golf stars Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka.
As McIlroy walked down the fairway, Barkley asked how much he eats during a round. McIlroy was eating a power bar while the Basketball Hall of Famer chatted with him.
Barkley laughed and responded that he was on a diet.
For what it’s worth, the former Philadelphia 76ers star has admitted to taking Mounjaro to help with his weight loss and deal with Type 2 diabetes. Mounjaro, which is a brand name for tirzepatide, helps with weight loss by curbing appetite and improving how the body breaks down sugar and fat.
"I started at 352 [pounds] and I’m down to 290," Barkley has said previously. "I’m starting to feel like a human being, not a fat a-- anymore."
McIlroy and Scheffler ended up defeating their LIV Golf counterparts. They only needed 14 holes to do it.
The format was one point for a six-hole four-ball match, one point for a six-hole foursomes match and one point each for singles over the last six holes.
"I'd love to have another opportunity," DeChambeau said. "It was a bit of a pillow fight for us."
McIlroy and Scheffler each won $5 million in paid cryptocurrency.
Fox News' Scott Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy were taking on Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in a two-on-two in Las Vegas Tuesday.
The latter two players defected from the PGA Tour to LIV about 2½ years ago, and McIlroy long lamented the players who had done so before recently doing an about-face.
Leading up to the match, DeChambeau cracked a joke about McIlroy's choke job at the U.S. Open as the two shared the driving range together.
McIlroy bogeyed three of his final four holes and missed two putts that were both inside of three feet. DeChambeau took advantage with his legendary bunker save to win his second U.S. Open.
McIlroy admitted he wanted to "go up against Bryson and try to get him back for what he did to me at the U.S. Open."
"Well, to be fair, you kind of did it to yourself," DeChambeau replied.
The event features a combined 13 major championship victories from the four golfers — five from Koepka, four from McIlroy and two apiece from Scheffler and DeChambeau.
Scheffler and DeChambeau were paired up with one another for last year's Ryder Cup on Team USA.
Bryson DeChambeau pulled off one of the great golf shots after his up-and-down from the bunker on 18 at Pinehurst No. 2 this summer to win the U.S. Open — but he knows he got some help.
McIlroy bogeyed three of his final four holes and missed two putts that were both inside of three feet. DeChambeau took advantage with his legendary bunker save to win his second U.S. Open.
The two golfers will be on the links on Tuesday in the "LIV vs. PGA" edition of "The Match," where frenemies DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka will team up against McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler.
McIlroy and DeChambeau hit the range beside one another earlier this week, where McIlroy admitted he wanted to "go up against Bryson and try to get him back for what he did to me at the U.S. Open."
DeChambeau, though, didn't let him slide that easily.
"Well, to be fair, you kind of did it to yourself," DeChambeau hit back.
McIlroy took the crack on the chin as the crowd burst out in laughter.
In speaking with Fox News Digital over the summer, Dechambeau couldn't help but admit that he thought about that day at Pinehurst "every day."
"The bunker shot is amazing, but there’s a couple shots I hit during the course of that week. The back of No. 8, I hit it over the green twice, and I get up-and-down twice. I win the tournament because of that," DeChambeau told Fox News Digital back in August. "If I don’t get that up-and-down, I may not win the tournament. It’s actually the culmination of the whole week and how things progressed that led to it being such a memorable week."
"You never want to lose a championship that way. You want to see someone make a putt and do something crazy and cool. But I can tell you, there was a battle between us. It was definitely LIV vs. PGA for sure," DeCheambeau added.
Had DeChambeau not knocked down that par putt on 18, DeChambeau and McIlroy would have faced off in the first aggregate playoff in U.S. Open history.
Well, maybe McIlroy can get some sort of revenge this week at Shadow Creek.
Earl Cooper and Olajuwon Ajanaku are the founders of Eastside Golf.
Eastside Golf
2024 has been a landmark year for Eastside Golf.
The golf apparel brand was founded in 2019 by Olajuwon Ajanaku and Earl Cooper.
Together, they're helping break barriers to access, diversity, and inclusion in the sport.
Ten years ago, it would've been difficult to imagine the words golf and fashion in the same sentence.
Barring Tiger Woods' signature red polos and John Daly's eccentric pant choices, the sport has more often evoked memories of long-winded dress codes critiquing everything from shirt colors and buttons to the presence of belt loops.
But the golf landscape is beginning to change.
The National Golf Foundation (NGF) reported that in 2023, the sport had an estimated reach of 123 million in the US — more than one-third of the population — with "reach" defined by those over age 5 who'd played on or off-course, followed the sport on TV or online, read about it, or listened to a podcast.
In February, the NGF also reported the sport has seen increases in on-course participation from players from marginalized groups. The number of women and girls playing on-course has risen 23% since 2018, and the number of Asian, Black, and Hispanic golfers has increased 43%.
And while these advancements haven't quite reached the pros (Tiger Woods was the only Black golfer to compete at the 2024 Masters), the trend toward younger, more diverse players has brought new ideas of how today's golfers see, and want to represent, themselves.
Enter: Eastside Golf.
Founded by former Morehouse golf teammates Olajuwon Ajanaku and Earl Cooper in 2019, the brand has become a beacon for the growth of inclusion and access to the historically exclusive sport thanks to the work of its founders, community events, and collaborations with companies like Jordan Brand, Mercedes-Benz, Nike, Rolling Loud, and more.
Oh, and their pieces have been worn by everyone from NBA stars Chris Paul and Stephen Curry to former President Barack Obama.
This year has been particularly impactful for Eastside, as it collaborated with Shopify for a pop-up store in New York City, hosted its second annual namesake invitational, released the "Everyone's Game" collection with Nike, continued to give back to HBCUs, and presented the Rolling Loud Invitational on December 12.
As Ajanaku and Cooper look ahead to 2025, here's everything you need to know about the brand that's changing the game.
Eastside was founded after Olajuwon Ajanaku struggled to fund his professional golf career.
Ajanaku told BI that he knew it would be hard to find sponsors after he decided to go pro again.
Cassidy Sparrow/Contributor/Getty Images
After graduating from Morehouse College in 2011 and 2012, respectively, Cooper and Ajanaku went their separate ways, with Cooper becoming a PGA professional and Ajanaku pursuing a professional career.
He did so for two years, and even won some mini tour events, "but it got to a point I just couldn't afford it anymore," Ajanaku told BI.
"I was taking up jobs and literally working at a golf course," he said, adding that he was "literally making pitch decks" to brands about potential sponsorship packages.
In an October interview with Barrons, he estimated that he only raised about $10,000 in those two years.
So, he went corporate, pivoting to a career in commercial vehicle finance, but never losing interest in golf.
When Ajanaku decided he wanted to turn pro again, he knew it would be hard to find sponsors and decided to make his own logo to represent himself: a Black man wearing jeans, a sweatshirt, and a hat, head down as he's swinging the club back while a Cuban link chain flies in the opposite direction. He called it The Swingman.
The Swingman logo became the foundation for Eastside Golf's brand.
Ajanaku said the Swingman logo is a representation of the way he feels when he's out on the golf course.
Mykenna Maniece/Business Insider
Ajanaku told BI he initially planned to put the logo on his bag and polo, and described the design as "the way that I feel when I'm out on the golf course."
Per Cooper's suggestion, Ajanaku printed the design on a T-shirt, too.
"I was in downtown Detroit. I maybe got stopped like 100 times in two hours, just like, 'Who are you, what is that logo, where can I get it, and do you play golf?' I was just like, 'Damn, I got something, but still don't know what it is,'" Ajanaku said.
Cooper's advice: Run with it.
Ajanaku made about nine SKUs to start, putting the Swingman on T-shirts, socks, lapel pins, sweatshirts, and even umbrellas.
He mailed the first 3,000 orders from his Detroit apartment.
"And from there, I knew that I had something," he said.
The costs to play golf don't just affect aspiring professionals; they're a barrier to access at all levels, so Eastside devised Community Days.
Eastside Golf hosted a Community Day in Augusta, Georgia.
Eastside Golf
"I think growing up, there were certainly challenges as far as being able to afford golf," Cooper told BI. "Golf tournaments were very expensive, so I had to ask for money from family and all different types of things."
The NGF reported that in 2023, "the average playing fee for an 18-hole round of golf at a US public golf course was $43," an 18% increase from prices in 2019. And that's not including other necessities like attire, equipment, travel, and tournament fees.
In response to the issue, Eastside came up with Community Days. On these days, the brand buys out a golf course in the US and brings in food, music, products, instructional opportunities, and more for community members of all ages to enjoy.
"We knew we couldn't make golf cheap, but we wanted to eliminate the financial burden completely," Cooper said.
Community Days have become one of the company's premier events, and everyone in the organization is required to attend at least one or two annually.
"It just lifts everyone's spirits so much … it's like putting the battery in your back because you really get a chance to see the impact firsthand," Cooper added.
The brand also gives back to their community at Morehouse and other HBCUs.
Eastside Golf has contributed nearly $300,000 to the Morehouse golf team.
Jensen Larson Photography, Inc./Jensen Larson
Both Cooper and Ajanaku were awarded scholarships to play at Morehouse College, an HBCU. There, they won the national title in 2010 and have continued to give back to the college ever since, donating nearly $300,000.
Morehouse golf head coach Edgar Evans Jr. told BI that the collaboration between the program and Eastside "has been a blessing."
"The program has always had a ton of potential, but just like any other college program, if you don't have any support, including monetary support, it's not going to get where you need it to go," he said. "So their contributions have been so important to us growing."
In addition to monetary donations, Eastside has also donated equipment and worked with Mercedes-Benz, their namesake invitational's presenting sponsor, to gift the Morehouse golf team sprinter vans.
The brand also has a roster of professional and NIL athletes, including Michael Herrera, Wyatt Worthington II, Kihei Akina, Morgan Riley, Bailey Davis, Matthew Vitale, and Kota Kaneko, Eastside Golf Japan ambassador.
Eastside has collaborated with big brands like Nike.
Eastside Golf collaborated with Nike for a collection called "Everyone's Game."
Mykenna Maniece/Business Insider
One of Eastside Golf's most recent brand collaborations was announced in September: a collection with Nike called "Everyone's Game," which featured two shoes, each customizable with six first-of-their-kind removable Nike swooshes.
From maroon and white for Morehouse and blue and white for Spelman College, to gold for the Swingman's gold chain and a mirror to — according to the product description — "reflect how you see yourself in the game," each design had a specific callback to Eastside's roots.
Ajanaku said it was "super dope" to work with Nike and have the opportunity to use their technologies, ask questions, and go back in their vintage collections.
"I had a great time, all in all, from the Eastside Golf creative team to the Nike design team, I mean, I feel like we meshed well together," he said.
The brand has had to be protective of itself and its community, too, especially when it came to partnering with the PGA of America in January 2024.
Cooper said he was proud of Eastside's commitment to holding out until the partnership was right between the two brands, and that they wanted it to be about more than just checking a box, but getting real support.
"That hasn't been an easy road because I think we have a very strong point of view of golf, and I think when you talk about a conglomerate like that, that's been around forever, over 100 years, they have a point of view, too. And I think they don't always align," Cooper said, adding that he thinks the reason PGA of America invested was because "they recognized Eastside Golf as the future of the game."
He continued, "So, that's just a huge vote of confidence, and it's something that we don't take for granted. But it definitely took saying, 'No,' sticking to our guns, and making sure that it was done right and that we felt comfortable and we didn't feel like we were selling ourselves short or selling the community short."
Eastside also sells items including sweatshirts, hats, golf bags, and club covers.
Chris Paul was an early fan of the brand.
Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
The brand has grown significantly since Ajanaku's first nine SKUs to sell a wide range of men's and women's apparel and golf gear.
Eastside Golf merchandise is available on their website, in stores throughout the US and UK, and, starting in June 2025, the brand will open its flagship store at Detroit Metro Airport.
Looking forward, the brand hopes to see its "non-traditional view on golf" continue to become more popular.
Earl Cooper and Olajuwon Ajanaku are the founders of Eastside Golf.
Courtesy of Eastside Golf
"They mean everything for the sport, to the culture," Chris Paul told Boardroom. "All of us equate everything to Tiger Woods, but now you can show up and see the Eastside Golf logoman? It's iconic."
Ajanaku told BI he thinks golf is already becoming a sport for all kinds of athletes, albeit with Eastside Golf's help, and that as the brand continues to integrate with purist golfers at PGA events and tournaments, the brand's "non-traditional view on golf" will become more popular, "and more companies will try to start doing that if they haven't already."
"And then lastly, I just feel like this logo at the end of the day will be, I'd say the next big logo," he said, adding that Eastside is trying to be just as big as a Ralph Lauren.
"If you truly look at the logo, [it's about] truly standing in what you feel your purpose is and just looking how you want to look and playing the sports that you want to play," Ajanaku said.
And as for the future? Ajanaku is returning to his professional aspirations — "that's a full-circle moment for the brand, something that we're excited about," Cooper said — and Eastside is looking forward to positioning themselves as a leader in the industry.
"I think we'll just continue to show how to grow the game in a unique way," Cooper said, highlighting the brand's Community Days, women's line, and new products. "I think we're very excited about just the impact that we're making … so as we continue to double and triple and scale, but also maintain that ethos of what this brand is all about."
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