It’s been a long road back for Gary Woodland. In September 2023, the former US Open winner underwent surgery to remove a lesion from his brain that was inducing extreme panic attacks, anxiety and feelings of fear. The procedure required doctors to cut a tennis ball-sized hole in Woodland’s skull, and though successful, it left his PGA Tour career in doubt.
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But Woodland is nothing if not a fighter, and yesterday at the Houston Open – just weeks after revealing his ongoing battle with PTSD stemming from the illness – he capped his remarkable comeback with one of the most emotional wins in recent PGA Tour history.
As Woodland strode up the 18th fairway with the lead, the gallery roared him on. It was the coronation he deserved and then some, but it wouldn’t have been quite the same if not for the respect showed by Woodland’s playing partners Min Woo Lee and Nicolai Hojgaard, who purposefully hung back to give him his moment.
Respect.
Nico Hojgaard and Min Woo Lee spoke and agreed to hang back and let @GaryWoodland have his moment on the 72nd hole. https://t.co/aEM2ymWRbx pic.twitter.com/8EZvjcVQJB
— Jamie Kennedy (@jamierkennedy) March 29, 2026
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“Yeah we (playing partner Min Woo Lee) talked about it, I thought it was appropriate to make him have his moment,” Hojgaard said when asked if the move was intentional. “It was a pretty cool moment for Gary. It was cool to see and I’m really happy for him.”
Lee went a step further, urging the crowd on as Woodland made his way towards the 18th green.
Hell yeah, @Minwoo27Lee. 👏👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/nm3OKjactF
— Skratch (@Skratch) March 29, 2026
Amazing stuff. While the moment belonged to Woodland, it was an incredible show of sportsmanship and emotional intelligence from Hojgaard and Lee, who were no doubt privy to some of the mental struggles Woodland dealt with throughout the week in Houston. Much is made of golf etiquette, some good and some bad, but it’s moments like this that remind us why golf’s unspoken codes of conduct are so important.