Gary Woodland is lighter now. Better golf has followed, and it’s showing itself this week in Houston.
Two weeks ago at the Players Championship, Woodland unburdened himself in an emotional interview with Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard, where the 2019 U.S. Open champion revealed he has been diagnosed with PTSD following a brain procedure to remove a tumor in 2023. Woodland said that doctors told him that “in an ideal world,” he wouldn’t be competing on the PGA Tour.
“My response was, in an ideal world, I don’t have this. This is my dream and this is what I’m going to do, and no matter how hard it is, I’m going to play,” Woodland told Hoggard. “I want to live my dreams and I want to be successful out here, but I want to help people, too, but I realize now I got to help myself first.”
Woodland missed four of his first six cuts in 2026, but he posted a T14 at last week’s Valspar Championship and arrived at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston, a place where he finished T2 last year, feeling better about the daily battle he faces and his dream of competing and winning again on the PGA Tour.
On Thursday, Woodland’s improved play continued when he opened with a 64 to put himself in contention early at the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
“I literally feel like I got a thousand pounds off my back that day,” Woodland said Thursday about revealing his PTSD diagnosis. “It was hard to do. I was crying going into the interview, and I left feeling a thousand pounds lighter. I have a battle that I’m fighting, but it’s nice to not do that alone, I can tell you that. We’ll take it one day at a time and continue to get better. But the Tour out here is a family and they’ve been amazing. The golf world’s been amazing and I’m very thankful.”
Woodland’s PTSD reveal is a big key to his recent on-course turnaround. He feels free, like he doesn’t have to hide what he’s going through. But while that decision to open up is the clear catalyst for Gary Woodland’s change, it’s not the only piece of the puzzle. Just the one that helped bring it all together.
A year-and-a-half ago, Woodland went back to his coach, Randy Smith, and made some adjustments to his swing that have him leading the PGA Tour in driving distance.
“He pretty much called me soft, told me I was guiding it, and that’s not ever how I played in my whole life,” Woodland said of Smith. “He wanted me to get back to swinging hard and aggressive, playing to my strengths. It’s been a process to get there, but we’re starting to swing at it again like I used to.”
While Woodland has been outdriving everyone on the PGA Tour, his iron play hasn’t matched up for him to take advantage of his length off the tee. But Woodland made a shaft change at last week’s Valspar, switching to shafts he used from 2015-2019, and they are already paying dividends.
“It’s a shaft that I played all through ’18, ’19, I think ’15, ’16, ’17. I played it for a long time,” Woodland said. “Switched out of it last year just because my speed had dropped and I was trying to find something that was a little more forgiving. My speed’s back and I put those babies back in and it was nice.”
Woodland followed up his first-round 64 with a 7-under 63 to enter the weekend at 13-under, holding a three-shot lead over Nicolai Hojgaard.
Woodland knows that a lot can happen over 36 holes. But on a golf course that allows him to be aggressive in front of a crowd that hopes to will him to a win, everything is in front of a freed-up Gary Woodland this weekend in Houston.
“There’s no doubt, and I feed off that,” Woodland said of the Houston crowd. “This, as much as any week, I feel like I’ve had a lot of support. Kind of feel like I’m playing at home. The fans have been amazing. I kind of need that energy to help me through the day, that definitely helps. That’s something hopefully I can ride on this weekend as well.”
As for what it would mean if he were the one lifting the trophy on Sunday, Woodland wouldn’t let himself drift that far into the future. Like every day, he’s just taking it one step at a time.
“I’m proud of myself for the way I played,” Woodland said. “Like I said, 36 holes, continue to do what I’ve been doing and then we’ll see where we’re at at the end.”
