Like most successful athletes Gary Woodland was always fearless, or close to it.
“Fear of not being great I guess would be it,” he said Tuesday at Waialae Country Club. “Fear of failure would be the only thing I had.”
That began to change last April for the winner of the 2019 U.S. Open and three other PGA Tour events. For a reason unknown to him at the time, Woodland began to have thoughts he would die — especially at night, when he would be jolted awake in fear.
At other times, he’d have irrational thoughts that his children were in danger of dying.
“A lot of fear,” Woodland, 39, said. “(Death) was the one that scared me the most, (because) I’m a very optimistic person, I believe good things will happen. I was very fear-driven every day, mostly around death.”
He is now very much alive, less than four months after brain surgery. Woodland, steely eyed with regained confidence, is among the 144 golfers teeing it up Thursday at Waialae in the Sony Open in Hawaii, the PGA Tour’s first full-field event of 2024.
Woodland starts at hole No. 10 in the first round, at 7:40 a.m. with Kevin Kisner and Tyrrell Hatton. Defending champion Si Woo Kim tees off from the 10th two groups later at 8 a.m., with 2021 Masters and 2022 Sony champion Hideki Matsuyama, and Chris Kirk, who is fresh off of winning The Sentry at Kapalua last week.
There is no clear favorite to win the $1.5 million first-place prize money and 500 FedEx points that go with it.
Of local interest, Chan Kim, the 2006 high school state champion from Kaimuki, Japan Tour veteran and now a 33-year-old PGA Tour rookie, starts at 1:20 p.m. on the 10th tee. Blaze Akana, from Kamehameha and the University of Hawaii (one of two amateurs in the field), tees off from No. 1 at 1:40 p.m. Kim and Akana both seek to make their first cut at their hometown event.
One reason Woodland targeted the Sony for his return is that he has played well here, with three top-10 finishes in 13 starts.
“It’s a very good golf course. One, driving is a premium. Ball striking is a premium, which usually sets up pretty good for me,” Woodland said. “I don’t think it favors any type of player. You just got to play well, long, short. Really favors who is playing the best golf. I’m excited about that.”
And, of course, he’s happy to be alive and, finally, well.
Woodland tried to work through the growing fears for months last year, as his routine of golf and tournament play provided some relief. Medication eased some of the anxiety, but side effects sapped his energy and stole his focus.
He still managed to play in 24 events last season, making 18 cuts and finishing in the top 25 six times.
Eventually, doctors identified the source of Woodland’s health problems as a lesion pressing against the part of his brain that controls anxiety and fear and, on Sept. 18, Woodland underwent brain surgery that could have blinded and partially paralyzed him if it went wrong.
But two days later he walked out of the hospital and less than four months later he is back on the familiar horse of tournament golf. He has no way of knowing if he will fall off at some point this week, but he’s physically ready to try. Woodland said he can make every golf shot he could before the ordeal.
“They told me I would be hitting balls within four to six weeks, which I was five weeks after surgery. They’re like, you just won’t want to play golf. You won’t want to compete for a while because the focus,” Woodland said. “I can go out and do it for a day or two. Can I do it seven days this week? We’ll find out this week.”
Is it too early?
Not even he knows, but he won’t unless he tries.
“I just want to prove you can do hard things,” Woodland said. “I want to prove to my kids nobody is going to tell you you can’t do anything. You can overcome tough, scary decisions in your life. Not everything is easy. This came out of nowhere for me, but I’m not going to let it stop me.
“At the end of the day, I’m here because I believe this is what I’ve been born to do, play great golf. I want to do that again. It’s been a while. Been a couple years.”
Will Zalatoris is also on the comeback trail. This will be the second start for him after the three-time major runner-up missed most of last season because of back surgery, stemming from injury issues that started in 2022, when Zalatoris’ star was on the rise.
“He’s such a good guy,” Zalatoris said of Woodland. ” His locker is usually right next to mine since he’s a W and I’m a Z. I love that guy. He’s so funny. If anything, I would be asking him advice because he’s always had a great perspective on life. Having to go through what he’s gone through, you hate to see that for anybody, but especially for G because he’s such a good guy.
“For a guy like that, he’s a major champion. If anything, keep being G. If anything, I’ll keep asking for advice from him.”
SONY OPEN IN HAWAII
At Waialae Country Club
2024 PGA Tour first full-field tournament
>> When: Thursday-Sunday
>> Par: 70. Yardage: 7,044
>> Defending champion: Si Woo Kim
>> Purse: $8.3 million ($1.494 million to winner)
>> TV: Thursday-Saturday: 1-5:30 p.m. (Golf Channel) Sunday: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (KHNL), 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel)
>> Admission: $40 for daily ticket, $100 for season badge. Military active duty and retired military members, reservists and dependents can get free admission with valid ID, or via vettix.org, Sweet Sixteen hospitality passes start at $265.
