We have our story of the year in golf and it’s still only March.
Gary Woodland, who opened up two weeks ago about his struggles with PTSD following brain surgery, won the Texas Children’s Houston Open, his first tour title since winning the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. And there wasn’t a dry eye anywhere at Memorial Park Golf Course. Woodland shot 21-under 259 total to top Nicolai Hojgaard by five shots. He will take home $1.782 million from the overall $9.9 million purse. Defending champion Min Woo Lee tied for third place with Johnny Keefer.
“Today was a good day,” Woodland said. “But I’m going to keep fighting. I’ve got a big fight ahead of me and I’m going to keep going, but I’m proud of myself right now.”
Memorial Park, a municipal layout refreshed in 2019 by noted course architect Tom Doak, with consultation from Brooks Koepka, played host for the six straight season. The course is located just west of Houston’s downtown and will also host the Chevron Championship, the LPGA Tour’s first major of the 2026 season, next month.
The PGA Tour now moves to the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio before the Masters the following week. But as of now, we have our story of the year.
Texas Children’s Houston Open Prize Money Payouts
Win: Gary Woodland, -21/259, $1,782,000
2: Nicolai Hojgaard, -16/264, $1,079,100
T-3: Johnny Keefer, -15/265, $584,100
T-3: Min Woo Lee, -15/265, $584,100
5: Sam Stevens, -14/266, $405,900
T-6: Jake Knapp, -13/267, $322,987
T-6: Chris Gotterup, -13/267, $322,987
T-6: Sudarshan Yellamaraju, -13/267, $322,987
T-6: Jason Day, -13/267, $322,987
T-10: Bronson Burgoon, -12/268, $259,875
T-10: Sahith Theegala, -12/268, $259,875
T-12: Adrien Dumont de Chassart, -11/269, $220,275
T-12: Denny McCarthy, -11/269, $220,275
T-14: Keith Mitchell, -10/270, $170,775
T-14: Pontus Nyholm, -10/270, $170,775
T-14: Thorbjorn Olesen, -10/270, $170,775
T-14: Jhonattan Vegas, -10/270, $170,775
T-14: Michael Thorbjornsen, -10/270, $170,775
T-19: Max McGreevy, -9/271, $136,125
T-19: Karl Vilips, -9/271, $136,125
T-21: Sam Burns, -8/272, $96,525
T-21: Aldrich Potgieter, -8/272, $96,525
T-21: Alex Smalley, -8/272, $96,525
T-21: Harris English, -8/272, $96,525
T-21: Beau Hossler, -8/272, $96,525
T-21: Zecheng Dou, -8/272, $96,525
T-21: Adam Scott, -8/272, $96,525
T-28: Mac Meissner, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Rasmus Hojgaard, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Harry Hall, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Ben Griffin, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Vince Whaley, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Shane Lowry, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Rico Hoey, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Chad Ramey, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Jackson Suber, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Michael Brenna, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Stephan Jaeger, -7/273, $59,625
T-39: Jeffrey Kang, -6/274, $41,085
T-39: Adrien Saddier, -6/274, $41,085
T-39: Austin Eckroat, -6/274, $41,085
T-39: Tony Finau, -6/274, $41,085
T-39: Paul Waring, -6/274, $41,085
T-44: William Mouw, -5/275, $32,175
T-44: Andrew Putnam, -5/275, $32,175
T-44: Jordan Smtih, -5/275, $32,175
T-44: Ricky Castillo, -5/275, $32,175
T-48: Erik van Rooyen, -4/276, $26,433
T-48: John Parry, -4/276, $26,433
T-48: Steven Fisk, -4/276, $26,433
T-51: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, -3/277, $23,938.20
T-51: Matthieu Pavon, -3/277, $23,938.20
T-51: Matt Wallace, -3/277, $23,938.20
T-51: Eric Cole, -3/277, $23,938.20
T-51: Chris Kirk, -3/277, $23,938.20
T-56: Matt Kuchar, -2/278, $22,770
T-56: Jimmy Stanger, -2/278, $22,770
T-56: Tom Kim, -2/278, $22,770
T-56: Danny Willett, -2/278, $22,770
T-60: Kurt Kitayama, -1/279, $21,879
T-60: Sungjae Im, -1/279, $21,879
T-60: Sam Ryder, -1/279, $21,879
T-60: Davis Riley, -1/279, $21,879
T-60: Takumi Kanaya, -1/279, $21,879
T-65: Kevin Roy, E/280, $21,087
T-65: Peter Malnati, E/280, $21,087
T-65: Lee Hodges, E/280, $21,087
68: Danny Walker, +1/281, $20,691
T-69: Garrick Higgo, +3/283, $20,394
T-69: Jesper Svensson, +3/283, $20,394
T-71: Brice Garnett, +4/284, $19,899
T-71: Tom Hoge, +4/284, $19,899
T-71: Emiliano Grillo, +4/284, $19,899
74: Matti Schmid, +5/285, $19,503
75: Luke Clanton, +7/287, $19,305
Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media
Main Image: Raj Mehta
