{"id":469516,"date":"2026-03-11T11:21:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T11:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/469516\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T11:21:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T11:21:23","slug":"tearful-pga-tour-golfer-opens-up-mental-health-struggles-inside-i-feel-like-im-dying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/469516\/","title":{"rendered":"Tearful PGA Tour golfer opens up mental-health struggles: “Inside, I feel like I’m dying”"},"content":{"rendered":"

PGA Tour golfer Gary Woodland has laid bare his struggles with PTSD after undergoing brain surgery.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Woodland<\/a>, who won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in 2019, had an operation to remove a lesion in September 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The American returned to the PGA Tour in 2024 and, despite playing regularly, said he was diagnosed with the condition about a year ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Woodland told Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard that the reason he decided to come forward was because he “couldn’t waste” any more energy hiding the condition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I’m blessed with a lot of support out here on the Tour<\/a>,” Woodland said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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“I appreciate that love and support. But inside, I feel like I’m dying and I feel like I’m living a lie.”<\/p>\n

Woodland recalled an incident during the Procore Championship in Napa last August.<\/p>\n

The US Ryder Cup<\/a> team used the event on the PGA Tour’s fall schedule to prepare for the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Woodland, who was one of Keegan Bradley’s vice-captains for the biennial dust-up against Europe, was startled by a walking scorer.<\/p>\n

It led to him suffering blurred vision and he wasn’t sure if he could continue.<\/p>\n

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“It was my turn to hit and I couldn’t hit,” Woodland said. “Butch [his caddie] said, ‘Let’s go in.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I said, ‘No man, I’m here for these guys. I want to fight through this.'”<\/p>\n

Woodland said his caddie gave him a pair of sunglasses to hide his the tears and he kept popping into bathrooms to cry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“When I got done, I got in my car and got out of there,” he added.<\/p>\n

“There are days when it’s tough\u2014crying in the scoring trailer, running to my car just to hide it. I don’t want to live that way anymore.”<\/p>\n

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Woodland said he has discussed his mental-health struggles with other PGA Tour members and he is hopeful he can inspire others.<\/p>\n

He explained the PGA Tour have put extra protocols in place to help him during tournaments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I hope somebody that’s struggling sees me out here still fighting and battling and trying to live my dreams,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I want to help people, too. I realise now I’ve got to help myself first and hopefully this is the first step in doing that.”<\/p>\n

Woodland is a four-time PGA Tour winner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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He has made five starts this season, making cuts at the American Express and WM Phoenix Open.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Woodland is in the 123-man field for this week’s Players Championship<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Subscribe to our NewsletterWatch the full interview below: Show X Embedded Content<\/p>\n

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