Gary Woodland (born May 21, 1984) is an American professional
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
er who plays on the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
. Woodland won the
U.S. Open in
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, his first
major championship and sixth professional victory. Following a successful college career, he turned pro in 2007 and briefly competed on the circuit then known as the Nationwide Tour, now the
Korn Ferry Tour
The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. Th ...
. Woodland has competed on the PGA Tour since 2009 and has four wins.
Early life
Woodland was born in
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka ( ; Kansa language, Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the Capital (political), capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the County seat, seat of Shawnee County, Kansas, Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the ...
, the son of Dan and Linda Woodland. He attended
Shawnee Heights High School
Shawnee Heights High School is a fully accredited public high school located in Tecumseh, Kansas, east of Topeka, Kansas. The school colors are red, white and turquoise and the school mascot is the Thunderbird. The average annual enrollment is ap ...
in the suburb of
Tecumseh
Tecumseh ( ; October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. A persuasive orator, Tecumseh traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and ...
. After high school, he attended
Washburn University
Washburn University (WU) is a public university in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,100 u ...
in Topeka on a
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
scholarship, but left after his
freshman
A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions.
Ara ...
year to attend the
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
in
Lawrence
Lawrence may refer to:
Education Colleges and universities
* Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States
* Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Preparator ...
on a golf scholarship. He studied sociology while at KU. Woodland had a successful college golf career, winning four tournaments before turning professional in 2007.
Professional career
After turning professional, Woodland played in a handful of tournaments on the Nationwide Tour in 2007 and 2008. At the end of the 2008 season, he entered the
Qualifying school
In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...
for the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
, and finished in a tie for 11th, which was good enough to earn him a full card to play on the PGA Tour in 2009. However, he struggled for form in his debut season, making just eight cuts in 18 appearances before a shoulder injury cut his golfing year short in July.
In 2010, Woodland divided his time between the PGA and Nationwide Tours. He continued to struggle for his best form but did not record a single top ten finish on either tour. He did display enough consistency to finish 92nd in the Nationwide Tour money list. Once again, he entered the season-ending qualifying school, and again he finished T-11, to secure a return to full PGA Tour status.
Woodland's second tournament of 2011 was the
Bob Hope Classic
The Desert Classic (currently known as The American Express for sponsorship reasons; previously known as the CareerBuilder Challenge, Palm Springs Golf Classic, the Bob Hope Desert Classic, the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and the Humana Challen ...
, where he and
Jhonattan Vegas
Jhonattan Vegas (born 19 August 1984) is a Venezuelan professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and is a two-time Olympian.
Vegas was born in Maturín, Venezuela. He played college golf at the University of Texas, graduating with a degree in ...
finished tied for first place at 27-under-par; Vegas edged out Woodland in a playoff for the title. This was his first top-10 finish on either of the two main tours.
In March 2011, Woodland won his first PGA Tour title at the
Transitions Championship
The Valspar Championship is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played annually on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, northwest of Tampa, Florida.
History
The tournament was founded in 2000 as the ...
by one stroke when fellow American
Webb Simpson
James Frederick Webb Simpson (born August 8, 1985) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour who won the 2012 U.S. Open and the 2018 Players Championship.
As an amateur, he was a member of the United States' victorious 2007 Walker C ...
missed a par putt on the final hole. Just a few moments earlier Woodland had scrambled a fantastic par from the same position as Simpson on the last, after hitting his second shot over the back of the green. This win secured Woodland a place at the
2011 Masters Tournament
The 2011 Masters Tournament was the 75th Masters Tournament, held April 7–10 at Augusta National Golf Club. Charl Schwartzel birdied the final four holes to win his first major championship, two strokes ahead of runners-up Adam Scott and Jason ...
and also elevated him to what was then a career high 53rd in the
Official World Golf Ranking
The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986.
The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolli ...
. He later earned an invitation into the U.S. Open after moving into the Top 50. He left the tournament with an OWGR ranking of 39th. In November 2011, he won the
Omega Mission Hills World Cup
The World Cup of Golf is a men's golf tournament contested by teams of two representing their country. Only one team is allowed from each country. The players are selected on the basis of the Official World Golf Ranking, although not all of the fi ...
with
Matt Kuchar
Matthew Gregory Kuchar (born June 21, 1978) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and formerly the Nationwide Tour. He has won nine times on the PGA Tour.
Kuchar briefly enjoyed success in the early 2000s before sufferin ...
. He finished 2011 ranked 17th on the PGA Tour money list and 51st in the OWGR. He had ended 2009 ranked 962 and 2010 591.
Woodland reached the final of the
2015 WGC-Cadillac Match Play, where he lost to
Rory McIlroy
Rory Daniel McIlroy (born 4 May 1989) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who is a member of both the European and PGA Tours. He is the current world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, and has spent over 100 weeks in tha ...
, and moved to a career-best 32nd in the OWGR.
![Gary Woodland at 2015 PGA Championship](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Gary_Woodland_at_2015_PGA_Championship.jpg)
In February
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
, Woodland won his third PGA Tour event, at the
Waste Management Phoenix Open
The Phoenix Open (branded as the WM Phoenix Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held in late January/early February at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The tournament was originally the Arizona ...
in a sudden-death playoff over
Chez Reavie
William Chesney "Chez" Reavie (born November 12, 1981) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.
Early career
Reavie was born in Wichita, Kansas. He attended Dobson High School in Mesa, Arizona. He played college golf at Ariz ...
. After finishing tied at 18 under, Woodland won with a par on the first extra hole to end a five-year drought on tour. Woodland moved up to fifth in the season's FedEx Cup standings.
Woodland held the 36-hole lead at the
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...
in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
with a total 130, which was a tournament record through the first two rounds. He led by a stroke over
Kevin Kisner
Kevin James Kisner (born February 15, 1984) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.
Early life
Kisner was born in Aiken, South Carolina and attended South Aiken High School. He played college golf at the University of Geor ...
at the halfway stage. He started the final round at nine under par, three shots behind leader
Brooks Koepka
Brooks Koepka (, born May 3, 1990) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LIV Golf tour. In October 2018, he became world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking for 47 weeks after winning the 2018 CJ Cup. He won the U.S. Ope ...
. He finished in a tie for sixth with a score of 10 under par, six strokes behind the winner Koepka.
In January
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, Woodland held the lead entering the final round at the winners-only
Sentry Tournament of Champions
The Sentry Tournament of Champions is the calendar-year opening tournament of golf's PGA Tour season, played in Hawaii on the island of Maui. The tournament was founded in 1953; for most of its history the field was restricted to golfers who won a ...
at
Kapalua Resort
Kapalua Resort is a golf and beach resort in Kapalua, Hawaii on the northwest shore of the island of Maui near Lahaina, Hawaii. It is owned by Maui Land & Pineapple Company.
Description
Surrounded by from the verdant mountain ridges and summi ...
in Maui, Hawaii. He shot a five-under-par 68 but still lost to champion
Xander Schauffele
Alexander Victor Schauffele (; born October 25, 1993) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour, having won seven times since turning professional in 2015. Schauffele's best major finish is tied second at both the 2018 Open C ...
who shot a course record-tying 62.
In February 2019, Woodland invited
Amy Bockerstette, a collegiate golfer with Down syndrome, to play the par-3 16th hole at
TPC Scottsdale
TPC Scottsdale is a 36-hole golf complex in the southwestern United States, located in Scottsdale, Arizona, northeast of Phoenix.
Opened in 1986, the resort is part of the Tournament Players Club network of golf courses operated by the PGA Tour. ...
during a Tuesday practice round at the
Waste Management Phoenix Open
The Phoenix Open (branded as the WM Phoenix Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held in late January/early February at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The tournament was originally the Arizona ...
. After hitting her tee shot into a greenside bunker, Bockerstette surprised Woodland by parring the hole in front of a roaring crowd. The PGA Tour's video capturing the moment went viral, receiving 43 million views across various social media platforms.
At the
U.S. Open in June
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, Woodland held the 54-hole lead at
Pebble Beach Golf Links
Pebble Beach Golf Links is a public golf course on the west coast of the United States, located in Pebble Beach, California.
Regarded by ''Travel and Leisure'' blog as one of the most beautiful courses in the world, it hugs the rugged coastlin ...
. On Sunday, he shot a 2-under-par 69 for 271 (−13), which gave him a three-shot margin over the runner-up, two-time defending champion Koepka. Woodland became the fourth champion in U.S. Open history who was double-digits under-par. The victory was his first major and his sixth professional win. In his previous thirty starts in majors, Woodland had only carded two top-ten finishes, both in the PGA Championship (2018,
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
). The win at the U.S. Open moved him from 25th to 12th in the Official World Golf Ranking. At the post-win press conference, Woodland
FaceTime
FaceTime is a Proprietary software, proprietary videotelephony product developed by Apple Inc. FaceTime is available on supported iOS mobile devices running iOS 4 and later and Mac computers that run and later. FaceTime supports any iOS devic ...
d Bockerstette live, telling her "I used your positive energy." Two days later, Woodland joined Bockerstette with a surprise appearance on ''
The Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...
'' where, pointing to the U.S. Open trophy in Bockerstette's hands, he told her "We won this together."
In December 2019, Woodland played on the U.S. team at the
2019 Presidents Cup
The 2019 Presidents Cup was the 13th edition of the Presidents Cup golf competition, held at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Victoria, from 12 to 15 December 2019. Royal Melbourne previously hosted the tournament in 1998, at which the ...
at
Royal Melbourne Golf Club
Royal Melbourne Golf Club is a 36-hole golf club in Australia, located in Black Rock, Victoria, a suburb southeast of Melbourne. Its West and East courses are respectively ranked number 1 and 6 in Australia. The West course is ranked in the t ...
in Australia. The U.S. team won 16–14. Woodland went 1–2–1 and lost his Sunday singles match against
Im Sung-jae
Im Sung-jae ( ko, 임성재; born 30 March 1998), also known as Sungjae Im, is a South Korean professional golfer. Im won twice and was Player of the Year on the 2018 Web.com Tour. He was Rookie of the Year for the 2018–19 PGA Tour, and got hi ...
.
Amateur wins
*2005 (2) Cleveland State Invitational, Kansas Amateur
*2006 (1) Kansas Invitational
*2007 (3) All-American Golf Classic, Louisiana Classics, Kansas Amateur
Professional wins (6)
PGA Tour wins (4)
PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)
Adams Pro Tour wins (1)
*2008 Southwest Kansas Pro-Am
Other wins (1)
Major championships
Wins (1)
Results timeline
''Results not in chronological order in 2020.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
Summary
*Most consecutive cuts made – 6 (twice)
*Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2019 PGA – 2019 U.S. Open)
Results in The Players Championship
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
Results in World Golf Championships
''Results not in chronological order before 2015.''
1Cancelled due to
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied
U.S. national team appearances
Professional
*
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
:
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
(winners)
*
Presidents Cup
The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...
:
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
(winners)
See also
*
2008 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates __NOTOC__
This is a list of the 28 players who earned their 2009 PGA Tour card through Q School in 2008.
*Players in yellow are 2009 PGA Tour rookies.
2009 Results
*PGA Tour rookie in 2009
T = Tied
Green background indicates the player retaine ...
*
2010 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
Notes
References
External links
*
*
Profile on Kansas University's athletic site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodland, Gary
American male golfers
PGA Tour golfers
Winners of men's major golf championships
Golfers from Kansas
Washburn Ichabods men's basketball players
Kansas Jayhawks men's golfers
Sportspeople from Topeka, Kansas
Golfers from Orlando, Florida
People from Shawnee, Kansas
Sportspeople from Delray Beach, Florida
1984 births
Living people