Gary Woodland making emotional FedEx Cup Playoffs charge at Wyndham

Gary Woodland has been open and vulnerable about his journey back from brain surgery to have a tumor removed in 2023.

The 2019 U.S. Open champion admitted that he probably shouldn’t have played on the PGA Tour in 2024, but he learned a lot about how to navigate his life post-surgery, the work it takes to calm his nervous system and what he needs to do to live the life he wants both on and off the course. The work Woodland did in 2024, with the help of his wife Gabby, led him to this season, where he felt better equipped to handle PGA Tour life now that he had a better understanding of how to settle his brain down from the stimulation of tournament play.

Woodland opened his season with three top-25 finishes and then finished runner-up at the Texas Children’s Houston Open in March. But it has been tough sledding for Woodland ever since. He has had just two top-20 finishes since getting beaten by Min Woo Lee in Houston and hasn’t finished better than T11. He entered this week at the Wyndham Championship, the PGA Tour’s regular-season finale, ranked 75th in the FedEx Cup standings and on the outside of the playoff bubble.

But Woodland opened with rounds of 67 and 64 at Sedgefield Country Club to put himself in contention. A third-round even-par 70 stalled out his chase for a title, but it’s good enough to move him from No. 75 to No. 70 and project him to currently be the last man in the playoffs.

After the round, Woodland got choked up in an interview with CBS as he reflected on another trying year post-surgery and a chance to get into the playoffs for the first time since 2022.

“It’s been a hard year for me,” Woodland told CBS’ Amanda Balionis. “It has been a long year for me. I’m tired. I need to get back into a dark room and just try to turn my brain off as much as I can. It has been hard. I am happy that I am playing well.”

In March, Woodland received the PGA Tour’s Courage Award for his openness and vulnerability post-surgery. While accepting the award, Woodland discussed how trying his first year back on Tour was, and how he and his family found solutions to allow him to compete on the PGA Tour and live a normal life off the course.

“At the end of the day, I’m fighting,” Woodland said in March. “The last thing I’m going to let this do is let this thing in my head stop my dreams, and that’s why I fight every day. I want to be there for my kids and my family, but I want to chase my dreams, too. I’ve got a lot of dreams out here.

“I’m starting to understand what I need to do every day to function in life, but the things I’m doing to help with my brain are also helping me play golf, and I’m knocking on the door. I know my game is close. It’s coming, and I’m going to keep knocking on that door until I bust through, and then we’ll see what happens.”

Woodland will enter Sunday at the Wyndham Championship as the playoff bubble boy. But while there is a lot of pressure riding on his next 18 holes of golf, Woodland plans to take things as slow as possible, rely on his breathing exercises to soothe his nervous system and lean on his game to take him to Memphis and the first playoff event.

“To be honest with you, not crazy,” Woodland told reporters after the round about the amount of pressure he faces Sunday. “I know my game’s in a good spot. I know if I go out and play like I can, I’ll be fine, and I’ll rely on that. I’ve been on the bubble on Tour a lot over my career. Some of those were for top-30, and that was probably a little bit easier fighting to get into playoffs. I’m just going to go and bank that. I know I’m playing really well. Try to take it one shot at a time, focus on what’s in front of me, and try to enjoy it. There’s a lot worse places I could be, so I’m going to try to enjoy tomorrow. It’s a privilege. I haven’t had really a big opportunity to try to get in the playoffs the last three or four years, so I’ll enjoy tomorrow.”

It has been a long two years for Woodland. But he has continued to fight on and off the course to live the life he wants as a golfer, father and husband.

On Sunday, Woodland will face an 18-hole test to hit another milestone in his recovery and extend his season to the playoffs for the first time since 2022. There will be a lot riding on every swing, but Woodland doesn’t see a daunting task on the horizon.

“I know I’m playing well, which is a big deal,” Woodland said. “I’ve been in this situation, trying to fight to get in the playoffs, and I hadn’t been playing well. This is a little different, I know my game’s in a good spot. If I can go out there and execute what’s in front of me, should be pretty good.”