[Photo: James Gilbert]
Gary Woodland doesn’t need any reminders about the challenges he has encountered over the last three years, the surgery he underwent in 2023 to remove a lesion from his brain and his subsequent battle with post-traumatic stress disorder that forces him to keep constant anxiety in check while competing at the highest level of professional golf.
But there he was last week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis meeting with an 11-year-old boy from New Zealand after the youngster followed the former US Open champion around TPC Southwind. The boy has an inoperable brain tumor.
Woodland shared this anecdote on Thursday after the first round of the BMW Championship. And just seeing the look in his eyes relaying that moment in Memphis said so much about how he assesses what his career has come to mean to others and not just himself.
“I think I got a lot of perspective over the last couple years. I know I’m fighting for a lot more than playing golf,” he said. “I’m hopefully having a positive impact on a lot of people’s lives just showing up and fighting. Knowing that I’m struggling every day, and hopefully … I’m having a bigger impact than just showing up and showing that I can still compete and play out here and live my dreams. That’s the big deal is I’m struggling and I’m still living my dreams. I hope people see that and try to do the same thing.”
Woodland’s dream took a fairytale turn in late March when he won the Texas Children’s Houston Open less than a month after revealing that he suffers from PTSD. That victory, his fifth career title on the PGA Tour and first in almost seven years, is easily the most inspirational story of the year, one that was a triumph of the spirit more than a conquering of a golf course and a field of talented competitors.
Reaching next week’s Tour Championship would be a remarkable encore. That’s why his dream start at Bellerive Country Club has a goosebump feel to it. Despite a bogey on the final hole, Woodland opened with a six-under 64 that provided an early clubhouse lead that was matched later by reigning US Open champion Wyndham Clark, Masters champ Rory McIlroy, J.J. Spaun and Chris Gotterup.
Woodland, 42, has not advanced to East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta since 2019, the year he won the US Open at Pebble Beach. He hadn’t even made the playoffs since his surgery in September 2023. He entered this week 31st in the FedEx Cup standings, just outside the cutoff, so making an early move was a welcome result. His round included an eagle at the par-4 11th hole when he holed a sand wedge from 102 yards. One of his five birdies came from 53 feet. The only green he missed was the final one, and he nearly saved par from a greenside bunker, lipping out from seven feet.
“I’m proud of where I’m at right now. I can promise you East Lake wasn’t on my mind to start the year,” said Woodland, ranked 47th in the world. “It’s a goal, I think you write it down, but it seemed like far, far away. The game’s just continued to grind. I’ve had up-and-down days. I’ve had some rough days lately. But I just, we’ve built this together, Randy [Smith, his swing coach] and I, to get to a point where I feel very comfortable over the golf ball. If I can find a way to get through 18 holes mentally, my game’s in a pretty good spot where I can compete out here at a level I haven’t been able to compete in a while.”
Bellerive has been a friendly place for Woodland, being just three hours from his hometown of Topeka, Kansas. He is familiar with the grasses, and the Missouri crowd was supportive of the former Kansas Jayhawk. “Eighteen years on tour, this is as close as I’ll ever get to home. So this is special,” he said.
Eight years ago in the PGA Championship, he led after each of the first three rounds and tied for sixth while playing in the final round with Tiger Woods. Coincidentally, he opened that championship with a 64.
“Today was nice,” he said by way of understatement. “I hit it better today than I did that day [in 2018]. I made a ton of putts that day, I remember. Today I drove it nice, controlled the irons in there. I made a couple long putt, but I left a lot out there as well. So I was very happy with the way I hit the ball today.”
It helped that he recently watched a video of the PGA and noticed that his backswing was a little shorter then. He incorporated that into his swing on Thursday and he enjoyed more control of his golf ball.
[Photo: Alex Slitz]
Controlling himself continues to be a work in progress—and probably always will be. Revealing his struggle with PTSD, he said, was incredibly liberating. “I got a lot of relief from that,” Woodland admitted. “I still battle the same things now that I was battling then, but I feel the love and support, I don’t feel like I’m hiding anything. I have more energy and that’s the big deal. I was wasting energy hiding that and I’m not wasting the energy anymore. So I’m still battling it, but I’m able to fight it a little better now.”
When anxiety threatens to overtake him, he has a method for coping. You might notice it as he goes through his round.
“When I’m struggling, I put my hand on my heart just to remind myself that I’m alive, and if I can feel my heartbeat, I know I’m breathing,” he said while putting his hand on his heart as if to demonstrate the power of the gesture. “And I’ve done that this year just to try to slow my heart down, tell myself I’m safe and I’ll be all right.”
Gary Woodland is better than all right. He is an inspiration—playing golf for more than just himself and somehow thriving. Always ill-at ease but never faint of heart.
