JACKSON, Miss. — Gary Woodland stood statuesque, squinting to sequester the sunlight Saturday during the third round of the Sanderson Farms Championship..
The 40-year-old from Topeka, Kansas, was looking for a better view of his ball, which he’d just struck from the right intermediate fairway on the 18th hole at the Country Club of Jackson.
One hundred thirty-six yards separated that ball from that hole after Woodland’s 351-yard drive.
The roars and rounds of applause from spectators in the stands in the distance only further confirmed what Woodland’s eyes saw.
“Beautiful,” he said to himself as that ball came to rest four inches shy of an eagle on the 488-yard par 4.
Woodland’s voyage to that shot, that moment, began Sept. 18, 2023, when the 2019 U.S. Open champion had brain surgery to remove a lesion that caused him anxiety and fear of death.
Sanderson Farms: Leaderboard | Photos
“I didn’t get much out of it (Saturday), because I played a lot better than the score,” said Woodland, who shot a 2-under 70 to move to minus-14 after three rounds. “But I’m excited to be here. It’s been a long road back for me, but I’m starting to see some signs of some good things.
“I’m not back to normal yet, but I’m trending in the right direction. I’m starting to feel better, which I think shows why the game is getting better.”
Kirk Hinrich is the reason Gary Woodland gave up basketball for golf.
Woodland was a freshman on a basketball scholarship at Division II Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. Hinrich, an All-American guard at Kansas who played 13 seasons in the NBA.
The two teams met in an exhibition at Allen Fieldhouse. It was Woodland’s first college game. He was assigned to guard Hinrich. His team lost 101-66.
“That’s something I’ll never forget,” he told the Clarion Ledger. “I learned real quickly that’s another level.”
Woodland, who was a two-time state champion and an all-state at Shawnee Heights High School in Tecumseh, Kansas, decided after one year at Washburn that if he couldn’t beat Kansas, he was going to join Kansas.
As a golfer.
“He ruined my basketball career in one night,” Woodland told Golf Channel in 2020 regarding Hinrich.
Woodland transferred from his hometown college to the much bigger school a half-hour east on Interstate 70.
“Fortunately, I had golf to fall back on,” he said.
Woodland won four tournaments with Kansas and turned pro in 2007.
He’s won four PGA Tour…
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