03/27/26 07:32:00
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03/27 19:30 CDT Gary Woodland surges to a 3-shot lead at the Houston Open,
shortly after revealing PTSD diagnosis
Gary Woodland surges to a 3-shot lead at the Houston Open, shortly after
revealing PTSD diagnosis
HOUSTON (AP) --- Gary Woodland felt a weight lifted from speaking publicly
about his mental health struggles, and he looked freer than ever Friday with a
7-under 63 in the Houston Open to build a three-shot lead going into the
weekend at Memorial Park.
Woodland sounded more pleased with not getting down about one bad swing than
his finish of three straight birdies that allowed him to build some separation.
He was at 13-under 127, three ahead of Nicolai Hjogaard (62) and Jackson Suber
(63) on a comfortable day of good scoring for most everyone.
Brooks Koepka was an exception. Coming off a 75 marred by three double bogeys
in the first round, Koepka had a triple bogey on the par-3 second hole, his
11th of the day. He shot 69 to miss the cut for the second time since his
return from LIV Golf.
Woodland wasn't dialed in off the tee, hitting only five fairways, but Memorial
Park has enough room to let it fly and he was rarely out of position. He
finished off his round with a wedge to 3 feet on the par-5 16th, a 15-foot
birdie on the 17th and a 12-foot birdie on the 18th.
But what stuck with him was a tee shot he yanked into the water left of the
13th fairway, leading to a penalty drop and ultimately having to make a 4-foot
putt to escape with bogey.
"I was proud of myself because what Randy Smith, my coach, calls an ?oops.' I
had a bad swing there on 13, and I've hit it so well the last couple days, I
didn't let that bother me," Woodland said. "I told myself to forget about it
and move on, and I was able to do that. That was a big change for me to let
that go and keep doing what I've been doing the last couple days."
The 2019 U.S. Open champion has been playing a well-rounded game, in control of
his swing and confident on the greens after he realized his alignment was off
and changed his putter to help.
Mostly, he feels big support and greater comfort following his decision to
publicly talk about his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder. Woodland is
recovering from September 2023 brain surgery to remove a lesion on a part of
the brain that causes moments of unfounded fear.
He felt "1,000 pounds lighter" after that Golf Channel interview. And he's
feeling it from the gallery in Houston as he goes after a win would get him in
the Masters.
"There's no doubt, and I feed off that," Woodland said. "This as much as any
week, I feel like I've had a lot of support. Kind of feel like I'm playing at
home. The fans have been amazing. I kind of need that energy to help me through
the day, that definitely helps. That's something hopefully I can ride on this
weekend as well."
Hojgaard also has the Masters on his mind. He is No. 47 in the world ranking,
and the top 50 after this week secure invitations to Augusta National in two
weeks. Hojgaard removed a lot of doubt with his round of 62. He did Woodland
one better, making birdies on his last four holes.
"It's so easy to say it's not on my mind, good golf will take care of it,"
Hojgaard said of the Masters. "It's on my mind 100 percent. We all want to be
there. But when I'm playing golf out there, I didn't think about it today. I
feel like my game is good enough to qualify for it, but there's two more days
here in Houston and I like where my game is at."
Defending champion Min Woo Lee and Jason Day each shot 63 and were four shots
behind, with Michael Thorbjornsen (64) another shot back. Thorbjornsen is at
No. 56 in the world --- he lost a big opportunity to move up with a rough
Sunday at The Players Championship --- but he is in good shape going into the
weekend in Houston.
Pierceson Coody's chances of the Masters took a big hit. The grandson of 1971
Masters champion Charles Coody is at No. 51 in the world. But he was forced to
withdraw with a back injury Friday morning. He is projected to go to No. 50,
but would need no one to pass him.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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