A tournament win unlike any other

You could look at all the praise, adoration and celebratory comments of congratulations and gain a pretty good understanding of just how big Gary Woodland’s PGA Tour win over the weekend was. 

But, really, all you had to do to grasp the magnitude of the moment was look at Woodland’s face, raw and real and pointed to the sky, after that final putt rolled in on the 18th hole at Memorial Park Municipal Golf Course in Houston. 

The five-shot victory that he wrapped up on Sunday at the Houston Open was his 5th win on tour and 8th victory as a professional, becoming the follow-up to a memorable U.S. Open major victory back in 2019 at Pebble Beach. 

So, yeah. It’s big. They all are. And winning them is hard, Scottie Scheffler, Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus be damned. 

But there was so much more to this particular victory than anything we’ve seen before. Certainly from Woodland and maybe in all of golf. 

The outpouring of emotion that followed the victory was something that transcends sports and winning. It was human. It was genuine. It was awesome for Gary and all who know him, love him, support him and are close to him.

You probably know the story. But, in case you don’t, we’ll sum it up quickly here. 

A couple of years ago, in September of 2023, Woodland, the Topeka native and former KU golf star, had brain surgery that took him off tour and out of the public eye for several months. He managed to successfully return to the game he loves by January of 2024 and was back in the top 10 on PGA Tour leaderboards just nine months after his return. 

That, however, was just the beginning of his comeback, perhaps even the easy part. 

Earlier this year, Woodland, 41, opened up and shared his story about a fight with post traumatic stress disorder. In a beautiful and gut-wrenching interview with the Golf Channel, he talked about fear and anxiety, he talked about living a lie and breaking down and he talked about not wanting to hide how he was feeling any longer. 

He said then that he knew he had to be open and honest with himself, in front of the world, so that he could win his own fight while hoping to help others with theirs at the same time. 

The interview and Woodland’s decision to share his pain with the world was raw and real and, somewhat incredibly, it led to Sunday, where he was standing in the winner’s circle again. 

Talk about helping others, with that soon-to-be-signature saying, "Just keep fighting." Woodland talked it. And then did it. On and off the course.

Those who know him never doubted the day would come. Woodland’s tough and he’s a fighter and he loves the game and his craft way too much to not get back here. 

But that hardly means it was easy. And that hardly made another trophy anywhere close to a guarantee. 

But it came nonetheless. And, in that moment, it didn’t take much to see that there was so much more behind this win than any other win from his fantastic career. 

As a result of taking home the trophy from Houston, Woodland will now play at The Masters in Augusta, Georgia in a couple weeks. 

It’s iconic, magical and magnificent all rolled into one. And if you’re a part of it, especially in early April as the golf world marks the turn from a long winter to the promise of the season ahead, it no doubt makes you feel like you’re right where you’re supposed to be. 

Woodland likely will feel that times a million at this year’s event at Augusta National, where he’ll try to tackle the one major that has given him more trouble than all the others. 

In 12 career starts at The Masters, Woodland has a top finish of tied for 14th. He missed the cut six times, withdrew another and yet still has never placed lower than 40th when he has played all four rounds. 

So, there’s some give and take there. But Woodland has never entered the event on quite this high of a high. So, maybe this year will be his year there, too. 

The fight is far from finished. Even in Houston, Woodland noted that there were moments on the course when his anxiety raged and times off of it when he broke down in tears. 

One win will not eliminate any of that. But, remember, this was bigger than one tournament victory. Beyond that, winning in the face of such a monster challenge — essentially slaying two beasts temporarily — almost certainly will make the next start easier. 

Woodland is still plenty young and he possesses the game, experience and drive to collect some more memorable hardware before his career is over. 

It’s hard to imagine any of it topping what we witnessed last weekend in Texas. 

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