Gary Woodland wins 2026 Houston Open following emotional PTSD revelation—
Gary Woodland wins 2026 Houston Open following emotional PTSD revelation
Gary Woodland was on an island. This time, it was one worth being stranded on.
He strolled down the fairway of Memorial Park, his caddie Brennan Little flanking him nearby, but the stage was Woodlands. His playing partners, Min Woo Lee and Nicolai Hojgaard, walked about 50 yards behind, raising their arms and encouraging the crowd’s chants that began to rain down.
“Gary, Gary, Gary,” the Houstonites chanted, growing louder as Woodland summited the 18th green and looked to close out one of the most impressive victories in the history of the sport.
The 41-year-old, who three years ago had surgery to remove a brain lesion and revealed earlier this month he struggles with PTSD as a side effect of that, won the Texas Children’s Houston Open on Sunday. Last year, he finished runner-up at Memorial Park, his best finish since returning from surgery. He did one better this year, as as the crowd chanted his name when the final putt dropped, the emotion poured out of Woodland in the form of tears, deep breaths and a realization that he can overcome anything.
“Obviously coming out with what I’m battling a couple weeks ago definitely freed me up a little bit,” Woodland said. “It took a lot off my plate. It allowed me to focus my energy where I need to and that’s on me and taking care of myself so I can chase my dreams and I can — like I said, when I said what I said and came out with it, it was like if it gives me enough energy for one better shot a round or if it gives me five more minutes that I can spend with my kids when I’m home, then it’s doing that. It’s helped me. I wasn’t in a place to do it a long time ago, a year ago, I can tell you, but we’re getting better.”
Woodland’s march to victory, his first win since capturing the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in 2019, was years in the making. It started slowly, as he returned to the sport following brain surgery at the 2024 Sony Open. Then he reunited with coach Randy Smith, who at one point called him soft and told him he needed to start swinging harder and playing with the tenacity that helped him win a major championship.
Then came the emotional interview 20 days ago at the Players Championship, when Woodland revealed on Golf Channel he deals with PTSD and how it has affected him on the golf course. That revelation helped ease stress on Woodland: why was he trying to hide what he was going through when he couldn’t control what was affecting his day-to-day life? Woodland said it felt like 1,000 pounds was lifted off his shoulders.
On Sunday evening, he gained some weight back, but this time it was from hauling around his latest trophy.
“I’ve known my game’s trending in the right direction for a long time,” Woodland said. “I just haven’t seen any results. I saw some signs last week, I really did. I don’t know what I finished, 14th, I think, but I played a lot better than that. I just haven’t had any confidence, but I haven’t had any energy to do it, too.
“It’s been tough. There’s been — the start of this year, those four weeks I played, I was in a dark place. Luckily, I had a week or two off there and kind of reset a little bit. Then I decided to come out with this and kind of got some confidence last week. It’s kind of just continuing that, down that road. I’m definitely in a better place than I was a month ago.”
Woodland began the day with a one-shot lead. By the time he made the turn, he led by six shots over Hojgaard. Woodland birdied four of his final five holes, including Nos. 7-9, the only player to accomplish the feat all week.
On the back nine, he led by as many as seven shots. Woodland stood on the tee at the 18th hole with a four-shot lead and ended up winning by five, finishing at 21-under 259 for the week.
Even better, the win gets him into the Masters in two week’s time at Augusta National.
Another reason for Woodland’s resurgence was a change in iron shafts this week. He went back to the KBS C-Taper 130 X, the shafts he used when he won the U.S. Open in 2019. It’s a stiff shaft for faster swing speeds, and the change proved pivotal.
When Smith and Woodland partnered up again a couple years ago, Smith told Woodland he needed to stop swinging softly at the ball and get back to what he was doing best, trying to pulverize the golf ball. His old shafts didn’t allow him to do that with control. This week, Woodland ranked seventh in Strokes Gained: Approach, but he was first in putting, gaining 8.325 strokes with the flat stick.
“He’s more than a golf coach to me. He’s always been that way,” Woodland said of Smith. “Obviously I got out here with him in 2009 as a rookie. I won for the first time with him in 2011. But when I got — when I came back from brain surgery and I was in a tough spot, it was my wife’s idea. She pulled me aside and said, I’ve left you alone for 16 years with your profession, I’ve never said a word, but you need to call Randy back.
“And I needed him for more than golf. He stepped up and he’s helped me get to this point right here.”
Often times in golf, players get stranded or often get lost and never find their way back. Woodland was himself on an island, though something out of his control put him there.
He not only found his way back, but he put together one of the most inspiring performances in recent PGA Tour memory.
“I’ve talked to some veterans that told me you can’t do this on your own, you’ve got to talk,” Woodland said. “And it was just time. My therapist, my wife more than anybody keep telling me I’ve got to take care of myself before I can help people. That’s hard, I want to help people. I’ve realized after the first four weeks when I played how hard it was on me, that I had to take care of myself because I was getting off. That interview was the first step in that.”
