{"id":501179,"date":"2026-03-29T03:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T03:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/501179\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T03:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T03:50:10","slug":"pga-tour-gary-woodland-leads-nicolai-hojgaard-heading-into-texas-childrens-houston-open-final-round-golf-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/501179\/","title":{"rendered":"PGA Tour: Gary Woodland leads Nicolai Hojgaard heading into Texas Children’s Houston Open final round | Golf News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gary Woodland will take a one\u2011shot lead over Nicolai Hojgaard into the final round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open after a composed five\u2011under 65 moved him to 18 under.<\/p>\n

The American is chasing his first victory since the 2019 US Open and has become one of the most admired figures in golf as he continues his recovery from brain surgery in September 2023.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, he spoke openly about battling post\u2011traumatic stress disorder, describing the emotional toll and the relief of finally sharing his struggles.<\/p>\n

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On the course, Woodland’s game looks revitalised. A change in iron shafts has helped him regain control as his speed returns, and he has shown full command of his swing throughout the week.<\/p>\n

He was particularly sharp down the stretch on Saturday, drilling a two\u2011iron over water to reach the par\u2011five 16th in two for a birdie, then nearly driving the green at the short par\u2011four 17th to set up another.<\/p>\n

\"Gary<\/p>\n

Image:
\n Gary Woodland leads the Texas Children’s Houston Open by one stroke heading into Sunday’s final round<\/p>\n

Hojgaard matched him shot for shot, posting a 63 after a 62 on Friday.<\/p>\n

The 25\u2011year\u2011old Dane has piled up 15 birdies and an eagle over the last two rounds and remains firmly in contention as he seeks his first PGA Tour win. Already No 47 in the world, he is virtually assured of a Masters berth unless an unlikely scenario unfolds.<\/p>\n

Defending champion Min Woo Lee (67) and Michael Thorbjornsen (66) sit five shots back. For Thorbjornsen, currently No 56, Sunday carries enormous stakes: a top\u2011eight finish could secure his first Masters invitation.<\/p>\n

Woodland, meanwhile, would need a victory to return to Augusta, though that goal remains secondary to the personal journey he has endured.<\/p>\n

\"Nicolai<\/p>\n

Image:
\n Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard sits one shot off the lead<\/p>\n

His surgery removed part of a lesion that had triggered overwhelming fear and anxiety, and he has described moments of breaking down mid\u2011round or hiding in bathrooms. Sharing his story, he said, made him feel “1,000 pounds lighter”.<\/p>\n

Now his focus is on closing out a win at Memorial Park, where he finished runner\u2011up last year. He leads the field in approach play and ranks second in putting with the help of a slightly adjusted putter.<\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/p>\n

Get the best prices and book a round at one of 1,700 courses across the UK & Ireland<\/p>\n

Hojgaard, a 2023 Ryder Cup rookie with three DP World Tour titles, expects a battle to the end, saying he plans to “stay in the fight” as the final round unfolds.<\/p>\n

Watch the final round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open live on Sky Sports Golf from 1.15pm on Sunday. There is also coverage on Sky Sports Main Event from 8.15pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gary Woodland will take a one\u2011shot lead over Nicolai Hojgaard into the final round of the Texas Children’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-501179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}