Many pro golfers consider winning a major to be the pinnacle of their career – but not the end of it. Gary Woodland was definitely a surprise winner of the U.S. Open in 2019 at Pebble Beach, but he’s been ice-cold without a win since then.
Nobody can blame Woodland for his struggles in recent years; even the 2019 major win was impressive, considering his wife was pregnant with twins in 2017, but sadly only one survived. Then shortly after the win at Pebble Beach, Woodland and his wife Gabby welcomed healthy twin girls, so he’s had a couple of busy years with three kids under the age of five in the house.
Woodland turns 39 this May, so it’s going to get tougher and tougher for a career resurgence each year. Here’s a look back at Woodland’s career and what it will take for him to get back to his winning ways in 2023:
It Would Be a Good Career If It Ended Now
Woodland isn’t even 40 yet, so he’s got a lot of golf left in him, but just winning the U.S. Open in 2019 will provide enough stories for a lifetime. Woodland was listed at a whopping +8000 on the 2019 U.S. Open odds, and he was able to edge out then world #1 Brooks Koepka by three strokes.
Koepka was going for an unprecedented third straight U.S. Open in 2019, so Woodland played the spoiler to perfection. Aside from Woodland at -13 and Koepka at -10, Jon Rahm led a group of four golfers that tied for third but way back at -7, so Woodland won on a tough course with some of the best golf of his career.
The U.S. Open win was the fourth for Woodland, whose other most memorable victory was the 2018 Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he edged out Chez Reavie in a playoff.
Rough 2021/22
There weren’t a ton of highlights for Woodland in 2021/22, as he entered 23 tournaments and missed the cut in 12 of those. He did finish T5 in back-to-back weeks at the Honda Classic and Arnold Palmer Invitational and was also T10 at the U.S. Open. Woodland also qualified for the FedEx Cup playoffs but was eliminated in the first round finishing T51 at the FedEx – St. Jude Championship.
More of the Same in 2023?
At this point, it would really be hard to see Woodland picking up a tournament win in 2023 – but that’s not saying it’s impossible. Moving forward this year, We will probably continue to see what we have from Woodland so far on the Fall leg of the 2022/23 Tour. He has the ability to play well at times, like his T9 at the Houston Open but is usually simply a non-factor with two events with finishes in the 60s, an MC, and a WD in five Fall tournaments.
Woodland is pushing 40 years old and has a litter of young kids at home so any tournament wins are really a bonus at this point.
