Charlie Woods walks off the 18th green during the first round of stroke play of the U.S. Junior Amateur Golf Championship on July 22, 2024, in Bloomfield Township, Mich. The Associated Press

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — The 16-year-old son of Tiger Woods is heading back to the U.S. Junior Amateur.

Charlie Woods bogeyed his final hole Thursday to fall into a three-way playoff for the final spot out of Eagle Trace Golf Club. Woods, who shot 71, won the playoff.

That sends him to the U.S. Junior for the second straight year. Next up is 36-hole qualifying in stroke play for 264 players, with the top 64 advancing to match play.

The U.S. Junior Amateur, which Tiger Woods won three straight times, is July 21-26 at Trinity Forest in Dallas. The course briefly hosted the Byron Classic on the PGA Tour.

Charlie Woods last year qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur but had rounds of 82-80 and didn’t come close to reaching match play.

Charlie Woods, a junior at Benjamin School, recently won his first significant American Junior Golf Association title.

Clark regrets outburst

CROMWELL, Conn. — Former U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark said he “deeply regrets” the damage done to the century-old locker he was using at Oakmont during the U.S. Open, his second act of frustration that caused damage at a major this year.

Reports surfaced over the weekend that Clark damaged his locker. The USGA said only that it works directly with players and their managers when it comes to player conduct.

Clark, who bogeyed his last hole Friday to miss the cut by one shot at the U.S. Open, opened the Travelers Championship with a 64 on Thursday. When asked to comment on the Oakmont locker incident, Clark said: “Yeah, I mean, I’ve had a lot of highs and lows in my career, especially this year some lows.

“I made a mistake that I deeply regret. I’m very sorry for what happened,” he said. “But I’d also like to move on, not only for myself but for Oakmont, for the USGA, and kind of focus on the rest of the year and things that come up.”

Clark burst into prominence in 2023 with two victories, including the U.S. Open, and a spot on the Ryder Cup team. He won at Pebble Beach a year later and qualified for the Olympics.

But he has only one top-10 finish in the last nine months and has dropped to No. 27 in the world ranking and No. 80 in the FedEx Cup.

At the PGA Championship, he hit his drive to the right and slung his driver behind him, damaging a sign on the tee. The logo was that of one of his corporate sponsors. Clark posted an apology for that incident on social media.

“As professionals, we are expected to remain professional even when frustrated and I unfortunately let my emotions get the best of me. My actions were uncalled for and completely inappropriate, making it clear that I have things I need to work on,” Clark said last month.

“I promise to better the way I handle my frustrations on the course going forward, and hope you all can forgive me in due time.”

Clark is No. 23 in the Ryder Cup standings, with six players getting automatic spots. He has the one more signature event (Travelers) and one major (British Open) among tournaments left to improve his standing in the FedEx Cup. Only the top 70 make the postseason.

“I still want to try to make the Ryder Cup team. I still am on the outside looking in for the FedEx Cup,” Clark said. “So I’m starting to move on and focus on those things.”

Spieth withdraws

CROMWELL, Conn. — Jordan Spieth is out of the Travelers Championship with a shoulder blade injury that showed up out of nowhere.

He had to withdraw after 13 holes of the first round. Spieth wonders if he slept it on wrong.

But he noticed some pain during his practice session.

He stopped to go to a training table to get it worked on. But it never got any better on the course. He was 5 over with no birdies through 13 holes. Spieth doesn’t plan to add a tournament before the British Open because his wife is giving birth to their third child.