{"id":226908,"date":"2026-03-30T12:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T12:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/226908\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T12:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T12:54:13","slug":"kus-gary-woodland-wins-emotional-houston-open-after-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/226908\/","title":{"rendered":"KU\u2019s Gary Woodland wins emotional Houston Open after surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just 2 1\/2 years after undergoing brain surgery<\/a>, 41-year-old PGA Tour member Gary Woodland is at the top of the golf world once again.<\/p>\n

Woodland, who competed at the University of Kansas from 2003 through 2007, on Sunday fired a 3-under-par 67 to secure a 5-shot victory over runner-up Nicolai Hojgaard at the Texas Children\u2019s Houston Open.<\/p>\n

Woodland \u2014 he shot rounds of 64, 63, 65 and 67 for a tourney-record score of 21-under-par 259 \u2014 claimed his first victory since the 2019 U.S. Open and his fifth overall victory on the tour. His victories include the 2011 Transitions Championship, 2013 Reno-Tahoe Open, 2018 Waste Management Phoenix Open and 2019 U.S. Open.<\/p>\n

Topeka native Woodland entered the final round of the Houston Open<\/a> with a 1-shot lead over Hojgaard. Johnny Keefer and Min Woo Lee tied for third at 15-under.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe play an individual sport out here, (but) I wasn\u2019t alone today,\u201d Woodland said in his NBC-TV interview following his final putt. \u201cI\u2019ve got a lot of people behind me \u2014 my team, family, this golf world. Anybody that is struggling with something, I hope they see me and don\u2019t give up. Just keep fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview with<\/a> the Golf Channel 20 days ago, he revealed his ongoing battle against PTSD which has surfaced following the surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just another day. I\u2019ve got to keep healing. Today was a good day. I\u2019ve got a big fight ahead of me. I\u2019ve got to keep going. I\u2019m proud of myself right now,\u201d he added, fighting back tears.<\/p>\n

As Woodland approached the green on the 18th hole, he received thunderous applause and tipped his cap to the gallery. Several PGA Tour golfers, including those near the top of the leaderboard, cheered for Woodland at that moment as well.<\/p>\n

From just off the green he chipped within 3 feet. He looked to the heavens after tapping in for par and wrapping up the win over Hejgaard, who actually bogeyed 18.<\/p>\n

Woodland then hugged his wife, Gabby, and his longtime swing coach, Randy Smith.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be anywhere without them,\u201d he said of family and friends. \u201cThere\u2019s no chance I could do this without them. There\u2019s no chance I could do this without Gabby for sure. It\u2019s been hard on me, harder for her. I love her to death.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woodland has qualified for the first major of the year, the Masters.<\/p>\n

\u201cRandy has me in a spot right now, my game, it\u2019s better than it has ever been,\u201d Woodland said. In fact, he\u2019s driving 12 yards longer than a year ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s more than a golf coach to me. Randy has been with me through all this,\u201d Woodland added.<\/p>\n

NBC announcer Dan Hicks pointed out he noticed Woodland working on his breathing exercises as he walked down the 17th hole fairway.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody respected him even before what he went through,\u201d Hicks said on the broadcast. \u201cThe rallying around him has been amazing. This is one of the most emotional days we\u2019ve seen in golf in a long, long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gary Gary Woodland poses with the trophy on the 18th green after winning the Texas Children’s Houston Open 2026 at Memorial Park Golf Course on March 29, 2026 in Houston. Jordan Bank Getty Images <\/p>\n

Woodland had surgery to remove a significant portion of a benign tumor on his brain on Sept. 18, 2023. Woodland returned to the PGA Tour at the start of 2024. He recently said in an emotional interview with The Golf Channel that PTSD has had him breaking down and crying in the middle of rounds in which he tried desperately to hide his tears from fans and fellow competitors. The lesion that was removed from his brain is from the part of the brain that causes moments of unfounded fear.<\/p>\n

He said it\u2019s been a big relief to come public with his ongoing battles so people know his current challenges.<\/p>\n

He told the Golf Channel he feels \u201c1,000 pounds lighter,\u201d after revealing his PTSD.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt, and I feed off that,\u201d Woodland said. \u201cThis as much as any week, I feel like I\u2019ve had a lot of support. Kind of feel like I\u2019m playing at home. The fans have been amazing. I kind of need that energy to help me through the day, that definitely helps. That\u2019s something hopefully I can ride on this weekend as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

This Houston Open marked the first time Woodland held the 54-hole lead since he won the 2019 U.S. Open title at Pebble Beach.<\/p>\n

According to the Associated Press, Woodland \u201chas been helped by a change in shafts in his irons, noticing he was losing a little control as his speed began to return. His golf has looked as good as ever, with full control of his swing and full use of his athletic power.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve just got to take a deep breath,\u201d Woodland said after Saturday\u2019s round. \u201cI\u2019ll have a good night ahead of me tonight to recover and rest, and tomorrow just don\u2019t get ahead of yourself. I\u2019m here, I put myself in this position for a reason, so take a deep breath and maintain what I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Kansas City Star<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Gary Bedore<\/a><\/p>\n

The Kansas City Star<\/p>\n

Gary Bedore covers KU basketball for The Kansas City Star. He has written about the Jayhawks since 1978 \u2014 during the Ted Owens, Larry Brown, Roy Williams and Bill Self eras. He has won the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year award and KPA writing awards.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just 2 1\/2 years after undergoing brain surgery, 41-year-old PGA Tour member Gary Woodland is at the top…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[87787,86550,56,58,57,28604,10518,22591],"class_list":{"0":"post-226908","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-brain-surgery","9":"tag-gary-woodland","10":"tag-houston","11":"tag-houston-headlines","12":"tag-houston-news","13":"tag-houston-open","14":"tag-pga-tour","15":"tag-ptsd"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}