Gary Woodland won the Texas Children’s Houston Open on Sunday. He did so by five strikes. It was one of the most dominant four-day stretches of golf that the PGA Tour has seen this season.
Somehow though, none of the golf mattered. Don’t get me wrong. Gary Woodland is a professional golfer, and he is a major champion (2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach). What happened at Memorial Park though was so much bigger than golf, bigger than sport, and was more about life.
Gary Woodland exemplifies perseverance
For those unaware, Gary Woodland had brain surgery to remove a tumor back in September of 2023. This is obviously a difficult enough thing for any human being and their family to go through. It is a testament to Gary’s drive that he is even active on the PGA Tour following the ordeal.
It had been 6 years, 9 months, and 13 days since Gary Woodland was in the winner’s circle, but he has had to combat more than brain surgery in the span in question.
Recently Woodland disclosed that he has been battling PTSD following his brain surgery. He was incredibly vulnerable in sharing this and in the process justified the invisible fights that so many in the world are dealing with on a daily basis.
Woodland detailed to Cara Banks following his win on Sunday that while golf is an individual sport, he has not been alone in his journey and that he has an incredible team around him supporting him.
It is admirable how Gary has taken on such a difficult thing. Again, we all love golf and are certainly impressed with how he won the event in question, but with the context of what he has been dealing with it makes the victory all the more impressive.
Gary never gave up. He said as much in his press conference after the win. He exemplifies perseverance in every possible way that a human being can.
Congratulations to Gary Woodland and his family. What a story.
