AUGUSTA, Ga. — Gary Woodland did not win the Masters. Not even a top 20. But few golfers will leave Augusta National with more appreciation for what they experienced during the week.
Woodland, the Delray Beach resident, passed the most important test of the week as he walked off the 18th green on the final day. Shooting a 66, the best round of his 13 Masters starts and 12 shots better than the previous day, was just part of the successful week. Woodland believes he took another step toward managing his mental health issues.
“Today was peaceful,” Woodland said after finishing at even par 288.
“The big deal is every day is a day that we can learn. So this was a tough week just for how close the patrons are to me. But we can learn a lot from that. My caddie was getting behind me more. I was getting the bag behind me. Security was amazing, the whole staff. It’s just a lot of things I can learn.
“We can go back and talk with the doctors and figure some more things out. But this was a tough week but a good week, and I’ll learn a lot from this week.”
Woodland, 41, suffers from PTSD following 2023 surgery in which doctors removed part of a tumor in the area of his brain that controls fear and anxiety. Woodland has symptoms, including hypervigilance, with part of the tumor still resting against his brain.
A trigger is when he gets startled from people getting too close to him, especially from behind. Because of that, Woodland requested extra security for the Masters. Someone was close by every hole the entire four days.
“There were some times where you had to take a couple extra looks at security and slow down a little bit, slow my heart rate down and slow the thoughts down,” Woodland said. “It was a tough week for me just for a lot of things, but it was nice to be out there early and kind of see the results that I knew my game has been showing.
“I’ll learn a lot from this week.”
Gary Woodland came close to equaling Augusta course record
Not lost was the result. Woodland, who qualified for the Masters after winning the Texas Children’s Houston Open March 29, had seven birdies before a bogey on No. 17.
Entering 17, he could have equaled the course record of 63 with a birdie, birdie finish.
Woodland was coming off a 76 in the third round, his worst score of the year.
“I was tired the first couple days for sure,” he said. “There was a lot going on. But today was just peaceful. I slowed down. Good text from my coach (Randy Smith) last night that don’t let the frustration set in because I played beautifully Thursday, as well, and I’ve been playing nice. Don’t let the last couple days throw those days out, and I did that today, and it was nice.”
Woodland is working on his schedule that changed dramatically when he won in Houston. He now is in all the Signature Events and majors.
Next up is the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, a week off then three in a row, including the Cadillac Championship at Doral and the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club outside of Philadelphia.
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Gary Woodland takes another step at managing mental health at Masters
Reporting by Tom D’Angelo, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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