Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland candidly discussed the journey he’s faced since undergoing brain surgery in 2023.
“I’m still struggling,” a visibly emotional Woodland, 41, told Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard in an interview on Monday, March 9.
During Woodland’s surgery, doctors were able to remove the part of his brain that was causing him to experience seizures.
While the operation was successful, Woodland then faced an unforeseen challenge.
“A year ago now, I was diagnosed with PTSD,” he revealed. “It’s been hard. It’s a battle that I didn’t understand when it started.”
Woodland said he was motivated to come forward about the PTSD diagnosis due to the mental toll it’s taken on him.
“I can’t waste energy anymore hiding this,” Woodland said. “I’m blessed with a lot of support out here. The Tour and everyone has been amazing. Every week I come out and everyone’s so excited and happy that I’m back.”
He continued, “I hear every week, ‘It’s so nice to see you passed this, it’s so nice to see you a hundred percent.’ I appreciate that love and support, but inside I feel like I’m dying. I feel like I’m living a lie. 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.”
Woodland — who won the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach — has been married to his wife, Gabby, since 2016 and the couple share three children: son Jaxson and twin daughters Maddox and Lenox. In 2017, Gary and Gabby announced they had lost one of their twins while Gabby was pregnant with Jaxson.
Gary explained that his PTSD manifests itself on the golf course regularly, which finds him on a constant “search for threats.” He recalled a particular instance during a tournament in Napa, California in September 2025.
“On Friday early in the round, I was hypervigilant,” he recalled. “Walking scorer startled me, got close to me from behind. I stepped aside. I pulled [caddie Brennan ‘Butch’ Little], I said, ‘Butchie, stuff’s hitting me, man. You can’t let anyone get behind me.’ Next thing you know, I couldn’t remember what I was doing. My eyesight started to get blurry. A hole later I said, ‘Butch, I can’t handle it.’ I just started bawling in the middle of the fairway. It was my turn to hit. I couldn’t hit.“
Gary said he attempted to hide his emotions by wearing sunglasses for the remainder of his round and “went in every bathroom to cry the rest of the day.”
“I don’t want to live that way anymore,” he insisted. “If I’m feeling something I want to let it out. I want to let it go.”
Gary admitted he’s not quite prepared to discuss all of the details surrounding his PTSD battle, but wanted to open the door to a discussion in an effort to help others.
“I hope at some point down the road I’m able to sit down and talk about all of this,” he said. “There’s a lot of people battling this horrible thing. A lot of people. I’m not ready to talk about the whole journey yet, but I hope I’m there at some point.”
Gary continued, “Right now, I hope somebody that’s struggling, that’s battling this, sees me still out here fighting and battling and trying to live my dreams, and that gives them a little hope.”
