Tiger Woods Opens Up About Helping Son Through Important Process

Before Tiger Woods won the first of his 15 major championships, he was a national champion at Stanford University. A Cypress, California native, Woods was heavily recruited out of high school, ultimately choosing to stay local and compete for the Cardinal.

Fast forward three decades and now Woods is going through the recruiting process again from a different angle. His son Charlie, the No. 9 golfer in the American Junior Golf Association rankings and a junior at The Benjamin School in Florida, is currently being pursued by a number of colleges.

Process is 'very different' this time around

Last month, Charlie Woods helped The Benjamin School capture the Florida Class 1A State Championship, the program's fifth state title. In the final round of the event, he shot a four-under 68, tied for the best individual round on the day.

Speaking with reporters Tuesday at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, Tiger discussed what it has been like to observe and assist his son through his college recruitment.

"It's fun to be a part of the process with Charlie and go through it and see the opportunities he has that he has created for himself by playing better, places he could play, wants to play, ultimately will decided where he wants to go play," Tiger said, via the Palm Beach Post.

A whole new world

Tiger was already an amateur prodigy and famous name in the golf world by the time he enrolled at Stanford, but he says his recruiting experience was still more private than his son's.

"It's been very different," the elder Woods explained. "The recruiting process now, you have cell phones, we didn't have cell phones. We had written letters that would show up in the mail box. It was like, 'Oh my God, I got a letter.'

"It's just very different how fast coaches can communicate with the family members and the players they're trying to recruit, it's just a different world. Not saying it's good or bad, it's just different."

Will it be Tiger time again?

As interesting as it may have been to hear Woods discuss is son's golfing future, the thing most golf fans wanted to know is how the 49-year-old legend is recovering from October back surgery.

The answer is: not great.

"It's been slow," Woods said. "Not able to do much on a disk replacement to let it set; can't really do much. Now, we got the OK to start cranking up a little bit in the gym, started strengthening and started doing a little bit more of the rotational component that I haven't been able to do, just letting the disc kind of set."

Woods is not playing in the Hero World Challenge, which he hosts to benefit his TGR Foundation. He and Charlie will also sit out the upcoming PNC Championship in Orlando, Florida, from Dec. 18-21, and Woods will miss at least the start of the start of the TGL indoor golf season, which begins Dec. 28.