Former KU golfer Gary Woodland gets emotional talking comeback from brain surgery
Kansas Jayhawks basketball coach Bill Self followed his good friend Gary Woodland’s progress closely during Thursday and Friday’s opening rounds of the Sony Open PGA golf tournament in Hawaii.
“He’s back on the course,” Self said Friday afternoon of former the former KU golfer and 2019 U.S. Open champ.
Woodland was playing his first competitive rounds since undergoing surgery on Sept. 18 to remove a cancer lesion on his brain.
“He’s plus-1,” Seld said. “He tees off at 4:20 today (Friday). He needs to shoot 2-under today, probably, to make the cut. I just looked it up (online). Minus one is the projected cut. Making the cut after what he’s been through would be a remarkable comeback.”
Woodland shot a 1-over 71 for the second straight day Friday and thus didn’t make the cut at 2-over 142. He was tied for 119th.
Woodland grew emotional in an interview with NBC Sports after Friday’s second round, and it had nothing to do with missing the cut. His tears were tears of joy after making a successful return to competitive golf just four months after undergoing brain surgery.
“There was a time I didn’t know if this was going to be possible,” Woodland said, explaining the emotion. “It was a good week for me from a mental standpoint. I need to be mentally sharp to be where I want to be in the world.”
The Topeka native, who played basketball at Washburn for one year (2002-03) before transferring to a spot on KU’s golf team, will sit out the American Express tournament, which runs Jan. 18-21 in California. After that, he plans to compete in the Jan. 24-27 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Club in San Diego.
“It’s coming back,” he said, noting he would rest next week at his home in Florida, “tighten up some things with the golf game and I’ll be back for Torrey.”
Woodland said his focus on the course his week was “amazing.”
“It’s the best focus I’ve had in a year, best energy I’ve had in a year on a golf course,” he said. “Obviously you never want to miss a cut, never want to be out of contention, but it was bigger for me than golf this week.
“Focus was there all week, attitude was great, energy was great, so a lot to build on. My golf game was rusty. I saw a lot of good things, but I was rusty scoring-wise. The goal coming in this week was to see where I was mentally, and it was beautiful. It really was. It was the best week I’ve had on the golf course in a long, long time. I’m in a good spot. I think big things are ahead.”
Last spring and summer, prior to the discovery — and subsequent removal — of the lesion in his brain, Woodland had severe symptoms, awakening in the middle of the night and thinking he was falling, worried about dying. The portion of his brain affected by the lesion was causing horrible visions.
After going through that, and the surgery and ensuing rehab, it’s no wonder Woodland was overwhelmed by the moment after completing two rounds at the Sony Open.
“Hearing Topeka, Kansas (as he was introduced on the first tee), hearing my name called, there was a time when I didn’t know if that was going to be called again,” he said. “It got me a little more emotional than I thought it was going to.”
Woodland has received support from folks back in Kansas (including Self, who actually has a habit of texting Woodland each and every tournament), as well as fellow competitors on the tour, and of course his fans.
“It’s been unbelievable,” he said of the support in Hawaii. “We’re out here competing against each other every week. It’s been like a family, a lot of hugs, a lot of well wishes, support from everyone. It’s been amazing. It shows you there’s a lot of good people out here. The fans were amazing, the tournament staff, media. It’s great to be back.”
Woodland said the lesson from what he’s gone through is “that no matter how hard things are, and no matter how bad it gets, if you believe, if you surround yourself with the right people, you can overcome. It’s a message I’ll remind my kids.
“It’s been a hard time for me,” he added before pausing for a moment to compose himself, “but I was able to overcome it, and I’ll be back.”
To the delight of Self, who will be following his every move from afar.
And as for his relationship with Self, Woodland recently told pgatour.com: “He knows everything I do. He’s on ShotTracker every day. So, if I’m messing up, there’s usually a text coming my way. He keeps up on me. He’s hard on me, so I need to make sure I play well so I don’t hear from him.”
Self arrived in Lawrence in 2003, the same year Woodland started playing golf for the Jayhawks. The two played golf for the first time in 2007 before Woodland left KU.
“We went out and played golf together and we became good friends since then,” Woodland said, adding, “he’s been a great person for me, too, if I need advice. He’s somebody I can call, and he tells me how it is. He treats me, I would say, like one of his players — no sugar-coating anything. So he’s a good person to have.”
Self told pgatour.com: “I don’t know enough about golf to text specifics. I’m following because he can be two different players to me. He can be unbelievably consistent, where he’s making a ton of pars. And then when he gets hot, he can make as many birdies as anybody.
“But with that, he can also have as many doubles as anybody, too. So he used to just hit it a mile, and now that he doesn’t hit it quite as far, he’s certainly scoring better because he’s hitting more greens because he’s playing out of the fairway more.”
Woodland said that when he and Self, who plays to a 10-handicap, get together, Woodland gives Self a stroke per hole.
“But he thinks he’s a lot better than that,” Woodland said. “I just do it to be nice.”
This story was originally published January 13, 2024 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Former KU golfer Gary Woodland gets emotional talking comeback from brain surgery."
