Gary Woodland not only won a golf tournament Sunday, but he conquered a whole lot more.
He shot 3-under-par 67 in the final round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open to win on the PGA Tour for the first time in nearly seven years. During that gap, he underwent 2023 brain surgery.
He recently shared that he’s coping with post-traumatic stress disorder, so the victory was understandably ripe with emotion.
“We play an individual sport out here, but I wasn’t alone today,” Woodland said. “I got a lot of people behind me, my team, my family and this golf world. Anybody that’s struggling with something, I hope they see me and don’t give up, just keep fighting.”
Woodland finished at 21-under 259 for four rounds at Memorial Park Golf Course, where he tied for second place last year.
Woodland won by five strokes over Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard, who carded 71 for the final round.
It’s Woodland’s fifth victory on the PGA Tour, but first since the 2019 U.S. Open. The brain surgery involved removing a tumor.
“I’ve got a big fight ahead of me and I’m going to keep going, but I’m proud of myself right now,” Woodland said.
What Woodland has been through in the surgery’s aftermath has gained him admirers among his golf peers.
“Just really look up to him as a mate who put it out there just a couple weeks ago on television, what he’s dealing with,” Australia’s Adam Scott said. “It is inspirational.”
Woodland went 4 under on the front side, boosted by consecutive birdies on Nos. 7-9, to build a six-stroke advantage. When Hojgaard bogeyed No. 10, the margin moved to seven shots.
“Nice to stay in the fight on the back nine and thought if I made the eagle on 16, something interesting could happen the last two,” Hojgaard said. “And then when I didn’t make the eagle, I felt like I couldn’t reach him.”
Johnny Keefer shot 64 to rise to a third-place tie at 15 under with defending champion Min Woo Lee of Australia (67). Sam Stevens (67) was fifth at 14 under. It’s the first top-10 finish for Keefer, a 25-year-old rookie.
Jake Knapp made a huge jump with a bogey-free 62 to tie the course record, finishing his round by the time the final group was wrapping up the front side. His 43-foot eagle putt on the par-5 16th was among the highlights.
“I still didn’t drive it necessarily amazing, but was able to control distances and hit it pretty well into the greens to give myself a bunch of looks,” Knapp said.
Knapp, Chris Gotterup (65), Australia’s Jason Day (68) and Canada’s Sudarshan Yellamaraju (67) all were at 13 under and tied for sixth.
It was a disappointing result from Michael Thorbjornsen, who was in position prior to the round to rise into a high enough spot to qualify for next month’s Masters.
Thorbjornsen, needing to move from No. 56 in the world rankings to the top 50, was seeking to tie for fifth or better. Instead, he had a double bogey on No. 8 and three bogeys during a four-hole stretch on the back nine to finish with 72. He tied for 14th at 10 under.
Scott had a hole-in-one on the 11th hole. It was his third ace on the PGA Tour, but first in 14 years. He used an 8-iron.
“It was actually hard to see the flag mixed in with the people and the crowd, but we heard it go in,” said Scott, who posted 71 to end at 8 under for the tournament.
–Field Level Media
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