Lost in the excitement of the NCAA Elite Eight weekend, as well as the news of another Tiger Woods accident, one of the best sports stories in recent years got nowhere near the publicity it deserved.
Gary Woodland’s win in the Texas Children’s Houston was one of the most emotional sports moments I have seen in some time.
The 2019 U.S. Open champion had brain surgery in 2023 to remove a brain lesion and the recovery has been anything but easy.
He has been suffering from posttraumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) that has left him suffering from anxiety and hyper-awareness.
He had an issue while playing in the Napa PGA Tour event last year when a scorer got too close behind Woodland, activating all avenues of PTSD.
His team has since worked with PGA Tour security to avoid situations like the occurring again.
The comeback of Woodland speaks volumes for the mental toughness he has. This is what makes individual sports tougher than team sports at the highest level.
There is nowhere to hide, no teammates to rely on. It’s you against others.
There are plenty of talented golfers in this world that on any given day can go low. The difference is that when you must be there four straight days of tournament play and have some days when your game is off a bit. It’s the strong mental players that can salvage a bad round and be able to put it behind you for the next round.
When Woodland won the U.S. Open that spoke volumes to his mental strength. Under Open conditions at Pebble to be able to handle No. 6, No. 8-No. 11, the No. 17-18 and to do well enough the win the U.S. Open says it all.
Then go through brain surgery and deal with all that PTSD brings with it shows an inner resolve not a lot of people can produce.
Yet there Woodland was on Sunday, the winner of a PGA Tour event and taking the time to share his story in hope of helping someone else that may be going through the same thing.
That is a champion in the purest sense of the word.
Who knows what the rest of the year will hold for Woodland but at this point, does it really matter?
By Dennis Miller