This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
For a few years now, we've been writing that Gary Woodland is one of the longest, straightest drivers in golf. That's a key ingredient for success in major tournaments. But we've also been writing that Woodland had long been terrible in majors.
Not anymore.
Woodland withstood a fierce charge from Brooks Koepka, denying the world's No. 1 golfer a record-tying U.S. Open three-peat by claiming his first career major title with a three-stroke victory at Pebble Beach on Sunday.
As of 10 months ago, the 35-year-old Kansan had never so much as finished in the top-10 in any big tournament. By big tournament, we're talking major, WGC or The Players. Woodland had played in 27 majors, 14 stroke-play WGCs and seven Players. In 48 of the biggest tournaments – FORTY-EIGHT! – he had never had so much as one top-10.
In fairness, Woodland had previously won three times, and he is one of the best athletes, maybe the best, on the entire PGA Tour. He was an all-state high school basketball player in Kansas and had visions of playing for the mighty Jayhawks. Instead, he went to the University of Kansas on a golf scholarship. Interestingly, in his post-match news conference, Woodland said his basketball days contributed to his golf woes.
"It took me a lot to learn to control adrenaline; and other sports you use adrenaline to your advantage," Woodland told reporters at Pebble Beach. "Out here, when I get a little excited, I need to find a
For a few years now, we've been writing that Gary Woodland is one of the longest, straightest drivers in golf. That's a key ingredient for success in major tournaments. But we've also been writing that Woodland had long been terrible in majors.
Not anymore.
Woodland withstood a fierce charge from Brooks Koepka, denying the world's No. 1 golfer a record-tying U.S. Open three-peat by claiming his first career major title with a three-stroke victory at Pebble Beach on Sunday.
As of 10 months ago, the 35-year-old Kansan had never so much as finished in the top-10 in any big tournament. By big tournament, we're talking major, WGC or The Players. Woodland had played in 27 majors, 14 stroke-play WGCs and seven Players. In 48 of the biggest tournaments – FORTY-EIGHT! – he had never had so much as one top-10.
In fairness, Woodland had previously won three times, and he is one of the best athletes, maybe the best, on the entire PGA Tour. He was an all-state high school basketball player in Kansas and had visions of playing for the mighty Jayhawks. Instead, he went to the University of Kansas on a golf scholarship. Interestingly, in his post-match news conference, Woodland said his basketball days contributed to his golf woes.
"It took me a lot to learn to control adrenaline; and other sports you use adrenaline to your advantage," Woodland told reporters at Pebble Beach. "Out here, when I get a little excited, I need to find a way to calm myself back down.
"When I first got out here, if I got excited, I couldn't control it. … I've learned to take an extra deep breath and really start controlling everything, and not just the game – controlling the mental side too."
Indeed. Something finally changed last summer. Woodland tied for sixth at the PGA Championship. Of course, doing it once means nothing. And, after Woodland reverted to form by finishing outside the top 30 at the Masters earlier this year, that appeared to be the case. But then last month, he tied for eighth at the PGA. Really, that was not enough to jump on a Woodland bandwagon or even create one. His name barely cropped up in advance of the U.S. Open.
But Woodland played four rounds at Pebble Beach like he had never played four rounds before. He was virtually unflappable, enduring only four bogeys all week, two on Sunday, and zero three-putts. He could've unraveled seeing the way Koepka charged out of the gate with four birdies in his first five holes. But Woodland remained stoic and never even lost sole possession of the lead. It was a remarkable performance, one he had never even come close to previously.
Woodland had held the 54-hole lead seven times in his career – and he never won any of those tournaments.
Woodland is ranked 11th in driving distance, and he's always been among the biggest hitters on Tour. For someone with such power, he is also incredibly straight – ranked in the 60s in accuracy off the tee. That is far better than other big hitters such as Koepka, Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson. In fact, entering the U.S. Open, everyone but Woodland ranked in the top 15 in driving distance was outside the top 100 in accuracy, and some were outside the top 200. (Koepka moved to 92nd after the Open.)
At Pebble Beach, Woodland was very good but not great off the tee, ranking fifth in distance but only 22nd in accuracy. Instead, he won the tournament with, of all things, his short game. He led the field in scrambling, after having entered the week ranked 169th. And he was fourth in strokes gained: putting, after having entered the week ranked 150th.
So it's fair to wonder if this was an aberration, as it is with so many other major golf champions, especially a 35-year-old first-time major winner. They can put it together for three or four magical days, enough to become part of history but only once. We're not putting Woodland in the same category as a Shaun Micheel or a Ben Curtis – after all, he's now 12th in the world rankings, ahead of Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar and Jason Day, to name a few. But we're also not sold that he will do it again.
But it doesn't really matter if Woodland does it again. He's not an outlier, he's not an aberration.
He was a world-class golfer before last week. Now he's a world-class golfer who figured out how to close, and on one of the biggest stages in all of golf.
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Koepka began the day four strokes behind Woodland in a tie for third. He proceeded to birdie four of the first five holes, and at that point you'd have had a hard time finding someone who didn't think he'd become the second man to win three consecutive Opens (Willie Anderson, 1903-05) and win for the fifth time in his last nine majors. While Koepka proved he was mortal by bogeying Nos. 8 and 12, there's no doubt he has more majors in him. It would surprise no one if he won at Royal Portrush next month.
The 2013 Open champion was only a stroke back of Woodland as they began the final round. While Rose birdied the first hole, he had only one more the rest of the way, opposite five bogeys. After disappointments in the first two majors, Rose announced he still is an elite player.
On the heels of winning the Masters, not much was expected of Woods at the PGA. But in the U.S. Open? At Pebble Beach? This was a huge disappointment for Woods and his followers/backers. We know that Woods finished with a flourish, 6-under over the final 12 holes to tie for 21st, but he pretty much was out of it by Friday. He was cryptic when asked when we'd see him next, leaving some to think it might not be until the Open Championship in five weeks. Regardless, expectations for Royal Portrush should be severely tempered.
The world's top-ranked amateur is turning pro this week. And that means he couldn't take home the substantial check that goes to other golfers who tied for 12th. The 2018 U.S. Amateur champ and former Oklahoma State Cowboy eclipsed Jack Nicklaus' record for lowest Open score by an amateur set at Cherry Hill in 1960. Hovland's 4-under 280 total was two strokes better than the Golden Bear's total. Just as remarkable, the Norwegian ranked second in the field in strokes gained: off the tee and tee to green. Hovland was also low amateur at the Masters in April, and no one had ever pulled off this double before. Hovland now heads to River Highlands already ranked 356th in the OWGR. Besides those majors, he tied for 40th at Bay Hill, so there's reason to believe he can make a dent this week.
Three career U.S. Opens, three top-6s. And this one was the best yet, as Schauffele tied for third with Rose and Jon Rahm. It's only a matter of time before he wins one. And we're not talking 35-year-old time like Woodland. Schauffele is 25.
Like Woodland, Rahm is getting the hang of majors. Or course, he's more than a decade younger than Woodland. Rahm's tie for third gave him four top-10s in majors over the last two years, with three doubling as top-5s. The fact that he's missed the cut in the three other majors in that span illustrates the inconsistency often associated with a young golfer. Rahm is still only 24.
It was a disastrous start to 2019 for the veteran Swede, one that saw him tumble from 26th in the world to the 40s. But even at 43, Stenson is still too good of a tee-to-green player to stay down for long. He recorded his first top-10 of the year in Canada the week before the Open, setting the stage for his tie for ninth at Pebble. That gives Stenson back-to-back top-10s at the U.S. Open.
Adding Stevie Williams to the bag, on top of Day's great history at Pebble Beach and in majors, we expected a lot more than a tie for 21st. But maybe it will just take time for the Day-Williams partnership to flourish. But for now, the former No. 1 player in the world is stuck on one major title, and that seems to be a severe underachievement.
This is what we wrote about Kinhult in the U.S. Open Value Meter: "Watch out for the 22-year-old Swede. He won the British Masters only last month for his first European Tour win, and he's approaching the top-100 in the world rankings. He tied for 61st in last year's Open Championship." After Kinhult equaled the best round of Sunday, a 5-under 66 that gave him a T32 finish, you should keep watching. He's up to 109th in the OWGR.
With a great course history at Pebble Beach, a lot was expected of Johnson, as is the case with him in most majors. While Johnson didn't win, which is a longtime theme in majors, he also didn't contend. His tie for 35th was his worst showing at a U.S. Open in six years.
In what likely was his last, best chance to complete the career grand slam, it would've quite the story for Mickelson to do it at iconic Pebble. But of course the chances were ever so slim, and he tied for 52nd. By the time the next U.S. Open at Winged Foot ends, Mickelson will be 50 years old.
After missing the cut in seven consecutive majors, Garcia finally stuck around for a weekend with a nice 69-70 start. He didn't do much once he got there, though, finishing 75-74 to tie for 52nd. At least Garcia showed signs of life.
If you're just looking for a sixth guy to make a cut at the Open Championship in DraftKings or other DFS sites, Johnson could be your man. He's now made 10 consecutive cuts in majors and 13 of his last 14. with a tie for 58th at Pebble. He's finished in the 50s in all three majors this year. He's also made 12 straight cuts at the Open Championship, including three consecutive top-20s after his win there in 2015.
It's not been a great year at the majors for the Englishman. Fleetwood tied for 65th at Pebble, in the aftermath of a tie for 36th at Augusta and a tie for 48th at Bethpage. This had to be especially disappointing for Fleetwood after top-5s in the last two U.S. Opens. But it just hasn't been a stellar year in general, as he has fallen from 12th in the world rankings to 20th.
It has not been a good spring, or even a good season, for Watson. He missed the cut at Pebble, following up a similar fate at the PGA. He did tie for 12th at the Masters, which of course is one of his go-to tracks, so we might expect Watson to find some form this week when he heads to TPC River Highlands, where he's won even more often than at Augusta.
The Cal-Berkeley star who turned pro a week ago with a tie for 14th in Canada followed that with another cash, tying for 35th at Pebble. He's not quite as far up the OWGR ladder as Hovland, but he is ranked in the 700s after just three tournaments (he tied for 64th at Bay Hill in 2018). Like Hovland, Morikawa be in the field at the Travelers and, if you're disgusted with all the guys who have been screwing you all year, he's a fresh way to go. And, based on the last two events, he might not screw you.
