PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Two years after Gary Woodland returned to the PGA Tour following brain surgery, he still struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder so severe there have been times when he was in tears in the middle of the fairway.
He chose to share his PTSD diagnosis with Golf Channel on Monday at The Players Championship in an emotional interview, saying he’s determined to stop hiding behind the difficulty of his recovery.
“I can’t waste energy anymore hiding this, and I’m blessed with a lot of support out here on the tour,” Woodland said. “Everyone’s just been amazing. Every week I come out and everyone’s so excited and happy that I’m back. ... And I appreciate that love and support.
“But inside, I feel like I’m dying, and I feel like I’m living a lie.”
Woodland shared one incident of being hypervigilant. He said he was spooked by a walking scorer who came up too closely behind him during the Procore Championship last September.
“It was my turn to hit and I couldn’t hit,” Woodland said.
His caddie gave him a pair of sunglasses to hide the tears, and Woodland said he would go into bathrooms to cry. He finished the round, went straight to his car and left.
Woodland says he hoped that sharing his struggles can reach others who are dealing with PTSD.
“I’ve talked to veterans, and one thing I’ve heard from multiple people is you can’t do this on your own, no matter how strong you think you are,” he said. “I have a lot of fight in me and I’m not going to let this thing win. But it’s been hard.”
The surgery was in September 2023 after doctors discovered a lesion on a part of the brain that caused unfounded feelings of fear that he was dying.
“I want to live my dreams and be successful out here,” Woodland said. “But I want to help people, too. I realize now I’ve got to help myself first — and hopefully this is the first step in doing that.”