{"id":434013,"date":"2025-04-04T09:21:47","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T13:21:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/?p=434013"},"modified":"2025-04-23T16:40:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T16:40:08","slug":"gary-woodland-is-making-a-comeback-after-medical-hardship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/gary-woodland-is-making-a-comeback-after-medical-hardship\/","title":{"rendered":"Gary Woodland Is Making a Comeback After Medical Hardship"},"content":{"rendered":"

In September of 2023, Gary Woodland had to go through a non-trivial surgery.\u00a0 In brief, he went through an operation to remove a tumor from his brain.\u00a0 It would have been a very unpleasant experience, with the recovery period just as grueling.\u00a0 Nonetheless, he pressed on through the 2024 season, starting with the Hawaii Sony Open.\u00a0 In 2025, right before the Cognizant Classic, Gary Woodland was awarded the Courage Award<\/a> for his persistence in the face of hardship.\u00a0 He was still struggling all throughout this, but this past week, he managed to land himself in second place for an event.<\/p>\n

Woodland\u2019s Long-Awaited Comeback<\/h2>\n

Despite having a full recovery from his surgery, this season has been pretty mixed for Woodland.\u00a0 He often struggled to get into the top 20 and, more often than not, would land above that.\u00a0 He also had three missed cuts, still impressive for a man who had to get his skull cracked open.\u00a0 It would still be disheartening for a professional athlete to just barely squeak by.\u00a0 That is, until the Texas Children\u2019s Houston Open, where he ended T2.\u00a0 He was ecstatic with this win.\u00a0 Despite not getting first, this was his first major victory since the 2023 season before his diagnosis.\u00a0 Woodland took to Instagram to share his feelings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost there. This might be the best second place has ever felt. I can\u2019t get over how incredible the fans were today, your energy carried me so much. Thank you @tchouopen for a great week. See you all at @valerotxopen, let\u2019s bring it home\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This was a massive victory because he only missed first place by one stroke, and breakout star Min Woo Lee<\/a> was his competition.\u00a0 Gary Woodland gave his congrats and words of gratitude to Min Woo Lee after the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst off, congrats to Min Woo. Everyone out here knows how talented the kid is. He\u2019s an absolute stud. We all know once you break through for him, the sky\u2019s the limit, so really happy for him,\u201d<\/em> said Woodland.<\/p>\n

Support From Fans<\/h2>\n

While Gary Woodland was struggling he always had his fans giving him all the support they can.\u00a0 After his second place win, his Instagram was alight with support and kind words from fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cMannnn it was amazing today to watch you play at this level once again brother! All your hard work is paying off.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a dude whose Auburn Tigers just made the Final Four, congrats man. Golf is better with you in it. War Eagle and Rock Chalk!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou deserve it!!! Congrats!!! We were cheering you on!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Woodland\u2019s Instagram is full of support like this.\u00a0 Needless to say, the fans are just as excited for this victory as he is.<\/p>\n

Is Woodland Back?<\/h2>\n

With this recent victory, it seems that Gary Woodland is determined to make his comeback and will follow through on it.\u00a0 The past couple of years have been famously difficult for him, and yet he pressed on.\u00a0 His determination has already gotten him some acclaim this season alone.\u00a0 It would be worth the time to see where he goes next.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit:\u00a0 \u00a9 Erik Williams-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In September of 2023, Gary Woodland had to go through a non-trivial surgery.\u00a0 In brief, he went through an operation to remove a tumor from his brain.\u00a0 It would have been a very unpleasant experience, with the recovery period just as grueling.\u00a0 Nonetheless, he pressed on through the 2024 season, starting with the Hawaii Sony […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4860,"featured_media":434014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,246,19],"tags":[76,335],"class_list":["post-434013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-golf-news","category-pga","tag-gary-woodland","tag-texas-childrens-houston-open"],"modified_by":"yobodev","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4860"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}