CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Of the 156 players in last week’s Valspar Championship field Gary Woodland managed to beat just seven of them on his way to a missed cut, which was a tough performance to swallow on a course where he’s won before (2011).
“Rock bottom,” he said of his rounds of 77-71 at Innisbrook.
Fast-forward a week and Woodland is beating 152 players at the Wells Fargo Championship following rounds 67-69 that left him tied for the early lead – different week, different attitude, different direction.
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“Made a change, went back, talked to Butch [Harmon] on Saturday, worked with him over the phone,” Woodland said. “And then Pete Cowen was in town working with Rory, so Pete came down and we worked in person on Sunday.”
Woodland said his struggles on the course the last year have been the byproduct of an ailing left hip and the things he tried to do with his swing to alleviate the pain. This season he’s missed the cut in half his starts (seven) and posted just a single top-10 finish.
If last week’s missed cut in Tampa was rock bottom his play at Quail Hollow could be a tipping point for Woodland, who has considered having surgery on his hip for over a year.
“If I can’t swing like I did three, four years ago then I need to go get it fixed,” he said. “If I was going to continue to play the way I was last week, then it was probably time to shut it down this week. But I’ve seen the difference why I was swinging the way I was.”