Gary Woodland’s victory saunter about the seaside grounds of iconic Pebble Beach en route to his maiden major triumph in the 2019 U.S. Open first took considerable root in the Gateway to the West.
At Bellerive Country Club, to be exact, on the outskirts of St. Louis. In the final round of the 2018 PGA Championship. Alongside a man in a red shirt.
After taking the 36-hole lead, Woodland, who had won three PGA Tour titles but never earned a top 10 in 27 starts in a major, stood just three shots out of the lead and was in the second-to-last group with 18 to play.
Then the meat-and-potatoes bruiser from Kansas, who had rarely been shaken on any sporting field, became unsettled in the presence of Woods and the ear-splitting crowds. It was too late by the time he gathered himself, but while he didn’t win the Wanamaker Trophy, he did earn his golf doctorate.
“I got out of my element,” he said. “It was so loud. And Tiger shot 64 and was making a charge, so it got even louder. Honestly, I wasn’t even thinking about being in contention. I was thinking about playing with someone you’ve looked up to your entire life on a Sunday in a major championship and I got out of myself.
[jwplayer Mx5oFdbQ-9JtFt04J]
“Lesson No. 1? Don’t ever do that again. It was the first time in my career that I lost focus on what I was doing.”
Woodland finished in a tie for sixth. But he left Bellerive with so much more.
“That day I learned in major championships, where the stage is the biggest, the noise the loudest, the pressure the most intense, that you could still control what you can control,” he said. “I learned a whole hell of a lot. That round made me 10 more years a veteran. I wouldn’t have been able to hold on at Pebble if I hadn’t been in that situation with Tiger on Sunday in St. Louis.”
Hold on he did at Pebble, and with rounds of 68-65-69-69, he made others tremble and finished three clear of major master Brooks Koepka, who was stalking a historical three-peat. Woodland did so on Father’s Day, in front of his dad, Dan, his hero who nearly died of a heart attack 10 years prior. And with his wife, Gabby, watching at home with their son and expecting identical twins.
“You couldn’t write a better script,” Woodland said.
But the script has flipped. Woodland, 36, was supposed to be in New York this week defending his title at historic Winged Foot Golf Club. Instead, he’s in South Carolina Lowcountry at Harbour Town Golf Links for the RBC Heritage.
COVID-19 got in the way, but it allows Woodland’s U.S. Open reign to continue three more months until the national open is scheduled to be contested Sept. 17-20. More time to reflect on his biggest victory to date, especially during those times he eyes the U.S. trophy in his Kansas home. To think about the emotional day above Carmel Bay when he became a major champion and was able to put some of the darkest moments of his life, which included his wife suffering two miscarriages, a bit more behind him.
And he’s afforded even more time to continue adding polish to his game that is no longer a tad one dimensional. Through extensive work with short-game gurus Pete Cowen (with his chipping) and Phil Kenyon (putting), Woodland has added impressive touch to his enormous power.
That was evident in the final round at Pebble when he uncorked an uphill, 265-yard 3-wood to set up a huge birdie on the par-5 14th – “Best swing I’ve made probably since I’ve been on Tour,” he said – and a chip from off the hour-glass green at the 17th to set up a tap-in, crucial par – “I trusted myself and the shot came off perfectly.” Then he capped his win with a 30-footer for birdie on the final hole.
“When he got to Pebble, he had like a calmness to him all week unlike anything I had seen with him,” said his caddie, Brennan Little. “He was just in a different zone that week. What happened at Bellerive was huge.
“He’s always been a good ball-striker and has always been long. But when he started working with Pete and Phil, that’s when he put it all together. Winning at Pebble hasn’t changed him. He’s still the same guy. Except now he knows he can put it all together on the biggest stages.”
Another change is more visible – Woodland lost 25 pounds during the PGA Tour’s COVID-19 break. He plans on playing 10 of the first 13 weeks now that the Tour has resumed and wanted to be as fit as he could be.
During the down time, he also relished the time with his family. Seven weeks after winning at Pebble, Gabby gave birth to identical twin girls – Lennox and Jax. Their son, Maddox, turns 3 next week. All are healthy and happy.
“The family is great. My parents are doing well,” Woodland said. “This quarantine has been really nice, to be home and watch them grow, has been so great. It’s hard to describe how great it’s been.
“And we’re playing golf again. Life is good. It’s weird not being at Winged Foot this week and defending my title in front of the New York fans who are so great. But I hope – all us players hope – we’ll be there in three months.”
Woodland will be there as a different man. As a thinner man. As a father three times over. And as a major champion.
[vertical-gallery id=778049495]
[lawrence-related id=778036744,778036501,778034951,778033813]