Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland said Monday he has been battling post-traumatic stress disorder in the wake of his 2023 brain surgery, telling Golf Channel in an emotional interview that he “can’t waste energy” trying to hide it anymore.
Woodland underwent the surgery in September 2023 after tests a few months earlier showed a lesion pressing on his brain. Though his seizures stopped after the procedure and he ultimately returned to the PGA Tour at the start of 2024, he said he still battled symptoms and was eventually diagnosed with PTSD about a year ago.
“Every week, I come out and everyone is so excited and happy that I’m back. I hear that every week: ‘It’s so nice to see you passed this. It’s so nice to see you 100%,'” Woodland said when asked by Golf Channel why he revealed the diagnosis publicly. “And I appreciate that love and support, but inside, I feel like I’m dying. I feel like I’m living a lie. And I don’t want to waste energy on that anymore. I want to focus my energy on me and my recovery, my dreams out here, my family. I don’t want to waste energy hiding this.”
Woodland recalled playing in the Procore Championship last fall, an event that most of the American players used as a tuneup for the Ryder Cup, at which he was a vice captain. Woodland said during the second round, the walking scorer with his group got close to him from behind, startling him.
“I stepped aside, I pulled my caddie and said, ‘This stuff is hitting me, man. You can’t let anybody get behind me,'” he told Golf Channel. “Next thing you know, I couldn’t remember what I was doing. My eyesight started to get blurry. And a hole later, I just said, “Butch, I can’t handle it.’ And I start bawling in the middle of the fairway. It was my turn to hit, and I couldn’t hit.”
Woodland managed to continue to play. His caddie gave him sunglasses to try and hide it. He went into bathrooms to cry, and as soon as his round ended, he went directly to his car and left.
“There are days where it’s tough,” he said, his voice trembling often throughout the Golf Channel interview. “Crying in a scorer trailer. Running to my car to hide it because I’m scared … I don’t want to live that way anymore. If I’m feeling something, I want to let it out, let it go.”
Woodland, who won the U.S. Open in 2019, praised the PGA Tour for the help it has provided, including protocols to help ensure his safety and extra security with him when he plays. The 41-year-old has maintained a full schedule and is in the field this week at The Players Championship.
Asked if continuing to compete will help, Woodland said he believes it will.
“Doctors have said in an ideal world, I’m probably not playing,” he told Golf Channel. “I’m probably not in a stressful, overstimulating environment. But my response was, in an ideal world, I don’t have [PTSD]. [Golf] is my dream, this is what I’m going to do, and no matter how hard it is, I’m going to play.”