Augusta National
Gary Woodland is again at Augusta for the first time since 2024 and he is extremely emotional. He additionally thinks that any individual would possibly strive to kill him.
Woodland suffers from severe anxiety and post-traumatic stress dysfunction, having endured a collection of non-public trials and tragedies, together with a mind lesion that was affecting his psychological well being. Despite having the progress eliminated in 2024, he nonetheless feels uneasy in crowds, main him to maintain a safety element on the course since he worries that any individual would possibly strive to damage him.
As the American golfer prepares to tee it up at Augusta on Thursday, he spoke of the torment that he’s anticipating in The Masters. “It’s a big week for me,” he stated. “The fans are very close on the tee boxes. There’s probably not a safer golf tournament in the world, so I’m happy for that, but it’s still a battle in my head if I’m safe or not.”
At the Houston Open final month, Woodland stared down his demons to win his first event in virtually seven years. It was a triumph he couldn’t have imagined lately as a result of he’s now not enjoying towards the course or his opponents – he’s additionally now enjoying towards himself.
“I got hypervigilant on the ninth hole,” he defined of his spherical on the Friday of the event in Houston, “and I battled the last 10 holes thinking people were trying to kill me.”
Woodland says he couldn’t have overcome his anxiety with out the consolation blanket of his safety element, and he’ll be searching for cover at Augusta, too.
“Turning around and knowing that I’m safe, having somebody there with me, it’s the only reason I won two weeks ago,” he stated, seemingly on the verge of tears all through his total press convention in the Augusta Media Center.
“The whole deal for me is it’s visual, right? If I can see somebody, then I can remind myself that I’m safe constantly. I don’t have control when this thing hits me, and it’s tough. It can be a fan. It can be a walking scorer. It can be a camera guy running by me, just any startlement from behind me can trigger this pretty quickly.”
There is no such factor as a straightforward win on the PGA Tour, however it might be exhausting to think about something tougher than the journey Woodland navigated to victory in Texas. Since his earlier win at the US Open in 2019, Woodland admits that he’s been to hell and again.
A fast look at his resume would give the impression that Woodland has all of it: a serious title and a complete of 5 PGA Tour wins to his title, with over $38 million in the financial institution from prize cash alone.
But his skilled success masks a collection of devastating private tragedies. His first son Jaxson ought to have been a twin, however his sibling died in utero, after which in 2023, he underwent surgical procedure to take away a lesion on his mind that had been pressuring the amygdala that controls worry and anxiety.
“It was hell for me,” he informed NCS Sports in 2025, “it was very hard every day. Every situation, from driving in a car to getting on an airplane to walking down the street, everything was the end of the world for me.”
Woodland sought counsel from a fight veteran forward of his surgical procedure and he agonized over writing letters to his three younger kids, simply in case he didn’t make it. But he didn’t have to fear; the operation was profitable and he says he felt speedy aid, returning to competitors lower than 4 months later.
But it wasn’t till not too long ago that he admitted he was nonetheless in bother, contending with PTSD from his previous ordeals. As such, his victory in Houston was overwhelmingly cathartic and it’s led him again to Augusta.
“Winning was probably the last thing on my mind for a long time. Unfortunately, probably playing here was the last thing on my mind for a long time,” he stated. “There’s nothing like driving down Magnolia Lane. I definitely drove a little slower this year than I ever have. I’m definitely taking it all in this week for sure.”
Woodland says that golf has saved him, however his love of the recreation additionally implies that his struggles are ever-present.
“It’s given me purpose, for sure,” he informed NCS this week. “When I used to be identified with this mind tumor three years in the past, my primary thought was I wasn’t going to let this factor win.
“I’ve dreamed of being a professional athlete since I was a little kid, and I would do everything in my power to live that dream for my childhood self. Golf has given me something, a lot more to fight for than just myself and my family.”
But to illustrate how he appears to be in a perpetual state of battle, Woodland added, “When I’m not on the course, I’m in a battle, and when I’m on the course, I’m in a battle.”
Crucially, nonetheless, Woodland says he now not feels as if he’s alone – an issue shared is an issue halved.
“This is honestly one battle that I’m not able to do on my own. I tried, and it wasn’t working,” he defined. “Winning the US Open in ’19 had the greatest influence in my life from a golf standpoint. There’s little doubt.
“I hope winning in Houston had a bigger impact on somebody else’s life. I hope somebody that’s struggling with something sees this guy out here fighting every day and still living his dreams. I’ve turned a weakness into a strength. I wouldn’t even say it as a weakness, but I think that’s the stigma out there.”
It’s at this stage of the narrative the place it appeared acceptable to ask him how this story would possibly finish, in spite of everything the struggles, with all the uncertainty, how would it not really feel if it culminated with the inexperienced jacket being slipped over his shoulders.
His reply to NCS solely served to illustrate the magnitude of the problem he’s dealing with: “I’ve got to worry about today. I just don’t have the luxury of looking ahead.”