In September 2023, surgeons cut a baseball-sized hole in Gary Woodland’s skull to remove a lesion from his brain — a growth that had convinced him he was dying. On Sunday, he walked up the 18th fairway at Memorial Park with a five-shot lead, tears rolling down his face before he even tapped in for par.

Woodland won the Texas Children’s Houston Open by five strokes over Nicolai Højgaard, closing with a 3-under 67 to finish at 21-under 259. It was his first PGA Tour victory since the 2019 US Open — a gap of nearly seven years that included brain surgery, a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, and stretches where he was “in a dark place.”

The surgery removed most of the lesion. The aftermath was its own ordeal. Woodland has described episodes of hypervigilance and anxiety so severe he once broke down crying in a portable bathroom between holes. Earlier this month, he went public with his PTSD diagnosis, telling the Golf Channel he was “living a lie.”

Going public made him feel “a thousand pounds lighter,” he said. The scoreboard confirmed it: ball speeds touching 196 mph, a seven-shot lead at one point on Sunday, iron shots under smooth command.

At 18, Højgaard and defending champion Min Woo Lee held back, letting Woodland walk to the green alone — a gesture rarely seen outside the majors. “Anyone struggling with something, I hope they see me and don’t give up,” Woodland said afterward, voice breaking. “Just keep fighting.”

The win moves him to No. 51 in the world and earns a Masters berth in two weeks. His wife Gabby walked every hole. He has said the ordeal was harder on her than on him.

Sources