Gary Woodland is making his return to the PGA Tour this week at the Sony Open in Hawaii. On Sept. 18 of last year, Woodland announced via his social media account that he underwent surgery to remove a tumor from his brain.
“I had gone four and a half months of every day really thinking I was going to die,” he said during his pre-tournament press conference Tuesday at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu. “Every day it was a new way of dying, new way of death. The jolting in the middle of the night scared the heck out of me.”
The Tour’s Twitter/X account posted a video of Woodland’s press conference, and various pros, media members and fans responded with words of encouragement and support.
Sony Open: Thursday tee times | Picks to win | Photos
Unbelievable. I saw him many times last yr and wouldn’t have ever thought he was going thru something like this. You never know what another person is going thru… https://t.co/Y7bdytohEJ
— Michael S. Kim (@Mike_kim714) January 10, 2024
I can’t imagine what @GaryWoodland and his family have gone through over the last 8 months after listening to this. So good to see him cleared and back competing again on the PGA Tour. 🙏🏽 🙌 https://t.co/FBrT4SK1oK
— Smylie Kaufman (@SmylieKaufman10) January 10, 2024
Gary Woodland is one of the best guys on the PGA TOUR.
I am so happy that he is on the road to recovery and his return to Waialae is comfortably the biggest story there.Every day is such a blessing. Be thankful! https://t.co/AqoeRmS79I
— Mark Immelman (@mark_immelman) January 10, 2024
Gary Woodland always has been one of the real good guys on PGA Tour. Here’s the story of going from “not feeling like myself” to fearing death and discovering he had a brain lesion. Four months after brain surgery he’s back this week at Sony Open: https://t.co/MuZm7GMcmZ
— Adam Schupak (@AdamSchupak) January 10, 2024
Amazing how eloquent and detailed Gary Woodland can speak following a life-altering health scare. Worth a watch 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼 https://t.co/3otGTFgslU
— Sean Zak (@Sean_Zak) January 10, 2024
Reminder- you never know what people are going through. GW is one of the kindest, happiest guys out on tour. He is always willing to stop and chat, give insight, and asks how you’re doing. Never in those interactions would I have thought this was happening behind the scenes. So… https://t.co/kOvPq1TWUo
— Kira K. Dixon (@KiraDixon) January 10, 2024
This is absolutely nuts. What a scary journey for Gary Woodland to get all the way back to playing on tour this week. Impossible not to be rooting for GW. https://t.co/mX3cxLEIGu
— Riggs (@RiggsBarstool) January 10, 2024
A) can’t imagine going through that
B) can’t imagine sitting there and walking through the experience with such lucidity in front of total strangers and cameras.That’s a strong dude, with a group of strong, supportive people around him. The brain never ceases to amaze. https://t.co/Tliji7hinF
— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) January 10, 2024
What a genuinely terrifying experience. The fact he was still playing tournaments during this time and turning in decent results is amazing in itself.
Someone we can all root for in 2024, both on and off the course. https://t.co/ltAIV4858m
— Sam Harrop (@sam_golf) January 10, 2024
Oh my god.
Gary looks good and proud of him for sharing his story. A truly incredible human and praying for his continued recovery 🙏 https://t.co/UHHhvPPse2
— Joe I (@TourPicks) January 10, 2024
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