A Remarkable Comeback
Gary Woodland’s victory at the Houston Open on Sunday was a fairytale moment that marked a miraculous comeback on the PGA Tour. However, he admitted that this triumph almost didn’t happen.
This win in Texas was his first on the Tour since undergoing brain surgery 30 months ago to remove a tumor. It also came just two weeks after he shared his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Following his five-shot victory, the American expressed how obsessive fans nearly pushed him over the edge and almost derailed his final round.
“I’ll tell you this, if it wasn’t for Tour security and my security, Zach, this week, there’s no way I’m sitting here right now,” he said during his post-round press conference.
“I was a wreck the last 10 holes of that day. I got into scoring, Zach got close to me, Tour security was visual so I saw them so they calmed me down. I got into scoring, I bawled my eyes out, I reset and was able to come back out and take care of stuff after.”
“Coming out, talking and asking for help, I didn’t do that last year. I didn’t do that early this year. If I wouldn’t ask Tour security, they wouldn’t have been there for me like that. I’m extremely thankful for them.”
Woodland closed with a 3-under 67 to win by five shots over Nicolai Hojgaard. The fans paused chanting his name so Woodland could roll in a 5-foot par putt. He stretched both arms, exhaled, and looked to the blue sky before his tears began pouring.
He has been a popular figure and powerful player since he left a two-sport college career and joined the PGA Tour. But he began to struggle in 2023, only to learn he had a lesion on the part of his brain that caused unfounded fears that he was dying.
Surgery in September 2023, which involved a baseball-sized hole cut from the side of his head, removed much of the lesion. His return in January 2024 looked fine on the outside, particularly last year when he was runner-up at the Houston Open.
But he was hurting badly with PTSD, once rushing to a portable bathroom to break down in tears when he was overcome with emotion. He chose two weeks ago to share his struggles in a Golf Channel interview.
“I appreciate that love and support. But inside, I feel like I’m dying, and I feel like I’m living a lie,” he said in the interview. “I want to live my dreams and be successful out here. But I want to help people, too. I realize now I’ve got to help myself first.”
He said this week going public made him feel “1,000 pounds lighter.”
Woodland felt huge relief by sharing his PTSD struggles, and he had some technical help with his golf. He went to a new putter to help his alignment, and he consulted coach Randy Smith before going to stiffer shafts in his irons because his speed had returned and that helped him have better control of his shots.
There was no chance controlling his emotions, certainly over the last hour when the outcome was obvious and the 18th hole when it became reality.
But he said it’s still golf, and there’s still a battle with his recovery from brain surgery.
“It’s just another day. Today was a good day,” Woodland said with a smile and a short laugh. “But I’ve got a big fight ahead of me, and I’m going to keep going. But I’m proud of myself right now.”
His wife, Gabby, was with him all 18 holes with their three children at home. Woodland has said his wife was key in getting him through surgery and what followed. “This has been hard on me. It’s been a lot harder on her,” he said.
The victory moves him just outside the top 50 in the world and makes him eligible for all the elite events the rest of the PGA Tour schedule.
