A tweet sent from Gary Woodland’s account, tagged by Team GW, said Monday that the former US Open champion is “currently resting” after a “long surgery” to remove a brain tumour that was found earlier this year.

On August 30, the four-time PGA Tour winner announced that he had was diagnosed with the lesion and that he had been attempting to treat symptoms with medication. He met with multiple specialists who suggested that ultimately surgery was the best course of action.

“After a long surgery today, the majority of the tumor has been removed and he is currently resting,” the post said.

pic.twitter.com/p54pQBDj6W

— Gary Woodland (@GaryWoodland) September 18, 2023

The 39-year-old, who won the 2019 US Open at Pebble Beach, played 24 events last season, made 18 cuts and recorded two top-10 finishes. He finished 94th in FedEx Cup points and missed qualifying for the playoffs.

“At this time, the family requests space and privacy to be together,” the post read. “Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers as he gets started on the road to recovery.”

The post Gary Woodland resting after lengthy surgery to remove brain tumour appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Four-time PGA Tour winner and 2019 US Open champ Gary Woodland has announced that he will be undergoing brain surgery.

The 39-year-old tweeted that he’s scheduled for a September 18 operation “to remove a lesion found on my brain”.

Although Woodland didn’t mention any sort of a timetable, he added, “I’m in good spirits with my family and team by my side and so thankful for the love and support of everyone.” Here’s Woodland’s full message:

Thank you for your support during this time. GW pic.twitter.com/QSDlQqXFd0

— Gary Woodland (@GaryWoodland) August 30, 2023

Woodland is coming off a down season for him in which he posted only two top-10s in 24 starts. He finished 94th in the FedEx Cup standings to miss the playoffs.

A former college basketball player at Washburn University, Woodland is known for being one of the best athletes on the PGA Tour. He transferred to the University of Kansas after his freshman year to play golf and never looked back.

Woodland’s biggest win of his career came at Pebble Beach in 2019 when he held off Brooks Koepka to win his lone major. We wish him the best during this time.

The post Former US Open champion Gary Woodland to undergo brain surgery appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Let’s break them down.

Did the ball move?

The first incident of the day happened on Augusta National’s sixth hole. Collin Morikawa was standing over a 37-foot birdie putt and looked like he was about to hit it, before he promptly backed off.

Morikawa, who shot a three-under 69, exchanged some words with his playing partners. At that point, the camera panned close to show Morikawa placing his golf ball a few inches in front of his coin on the ground, then showed Morikawa moving his coin towards his ball. The latter part of the footage made the rounds on social media, sparking some initial confusion. It was quickly cleared up when it became clear Morikawa’s ball had moved unintentionally and not due to Morikawa making a stroke. After notifying his playing partners, Morikawa was simply returning his ball to his original spot.

Here’s the full video…Ball moved as I addressed it, so I threw the coin down in no specific place, replaced the ball to the original spot and then moved my marker to the original spot (from where I threw it). I play by the rules, I promise. https://t.co/HQhIv68vKE

— Collin Morikawa (@collin_morikawa) April 7, 2023

It falls under the Rule 13.1d in the Rules of Golf, which has been recently updated and is a good one for the rest of us to keep in mind. Because Morikawa’s ball had moved down the slope accidentally, unintentionally and through no attempt of his own, Morikawa marked the spot where his ball had moved to, and moved it back to where it was. Morikawa would’ve had to play the ball in the new spot had he not marked it already, but he had, so back to the original spot it went.

Free advice?

If you go back and watch on the "Holes 15 and 16" feed, it looks like Koepka's caddie says "5" to Woodland's caddie after Brooks' 2nd shot.

Which, at first glance, looked like he was saying that Brooks hit 5-iron (Woodland had not hit yet). https://t.co/hd2yctOqDC

— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) April 6, 2023

As outlined under rule 10.2a, golfers aren’t allowed to give or ask other golfers for advice. On the 15th hole on Thursday, there was a question about whether Brooks Koepka’s caddie, Ricky Elliott, had signalled to Gary Woodland’s team that Koepka had hit a 5-iron into the 15th hole. All involved looked into the incident with officials after the round, and no further action was taken because, as an official statement from Augusta National confirmed, “all involved were adamant that no advice was given or requested.”

After his round, Koepka, who co-leads the tournament after a seven-under 65, said Woodland had only asked him about the club after the shots had been hit.

“We looked at it when we got back in,” Koepka said. “Gary and caddie had no idea what we were hitting; they didn’t even know — I know that fact because [Woodland] asked me what we hit walking off, when we were walking down.”

Of course, had the tournament committee deemed that Koepka’s caddie gave advice to Woodland’s caddie, breaking the rules, Koepka could have received two-shot penalty. And had Woodland’s caddied asked for it, Woodland could have also received a two-shot penalty.

The post Illegal advice? Moving ball? 2 Masters rules controversies, explained appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The American holds a three-stroke lead over Saturday playing partner Gary Woodland, while the likes of Kurt Kitayama, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick and Rickie Fowler lurk.

Among those who did not make it to the weekend are world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, defending Open champ Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris, Justin Thomas and Viktor Hovland, with the 150^th Open Championship just around the corner at St Andrews.

Here are Saturday’s tee times in full:
9.15am – Marc WARREN, Guido MIGLIOZZI
9.26am – Sami VÄLIMÄKI, Dylan FRITTELLI
9.37am – Keith MITCHELL, Corey CONNERS
9.48am – Sam BURNS, Mikko KORHONEN
9.59am – Cameron SMITH, Ewen FERGUSON
10.10am – Haotong LI, Russell KNOX
10.21am – Christiaan BEZUIDENHOUT, Rikard KARLBERG
10.32am – Sean CROCKER, Adrian OTAEGUI
10.43am – Troy MERRITT, David LAW
10.54am – Stewart Cink, Nick A TAYLOR
11.05am – Nacho ELVIRA, Marcus ARMITAGE
11.16am – James MORRISON, Maverick MCNEALY
11.27am – Matthew JORDAN, Matthieu PAVON
11.38am – Wyndham CLARK, Harris ENGLISH
11.49am – Jason SCRIVENER, Chris KIRK
Noon – Fabrizio ZANOTTI, Thorbjørn OLESEN
12.11pm – Max HOMA, Tommy FLEETWOOD
12.22pm – Ryan FOX, Alexander BJÖRK
12.33pm – JJ SPAUN, Sebastian SODERBERG
12.44pm – Charley, Jamie DONALDSON
12.55pm – Adri ARNAUS, Alex NOREN
1.06pm – Matt KUCHAR, Branden GRACE
1.17pm – Dean BURMESTER, Justin ROSE
1.28pm – Jordan SPIETH, Jon RAHM
1.39pm – Jhonattan VEGAS, Alex SMALLEY
1.50pm – Thriston LAWRENCE, Patrick CANTLAY
2.01pm – Thomas DETRY, Ashun WU
2.12pm – Ryan PALMER, Brandon WU
2.23pm – Joohyung KIM, Justin HARDING
2.34pm – Connor SYME SCO, Maximilian KIEFFER
2.45pm – Rafa CABRERA BELLO, Tyrrell HATTON
2.56pm – Joaquin NIEMANN, Rasmus HØJGAARD
3.07pm – Rickie FOWLER, Matt FITZPATRICK
3.18pm – Xander SCHAUFFELE, Jordan SMITH
3.29pm – Kurt KITAYAMA, Doug GHIM
3.40pm – Gary WOODLAND, Cameron TRINGALE

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The post Scottish Open tee times. Third-round pairings as big names Morikawa, Zalatoris, Scheffler, Hovland and Thomas miss cut appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

A second-round 72 was good enough for seven-under for Tringale to enjoy a bit of breathing space over fellow Americans Gary Woodland and Doug Ghim, who shot rounds of 72 and 69 respectively.

MORE: The Scottish Open third-round tee times

Tringale began the day three clear of Woodland after producing a course-record-equalling 61 at Renaissance on Thursday, and stretched his advantage after starting his second round at the 10th, picking up shots on the 11th after an approach to four feet and the short 12th by sinking a 26-foot birdie putt.

By the 13th, he was bogey-free for the first 22 holes of his tournament, with 11 pars and 11 birdies, but after a first bogey arrived at the 14th, when he took three from the fringe at the front of the par three before bouncing back with a birdie on the 15th, four dropped shots in a row followed from the 16th.

He birdied the fourth but gave it back at the tricky sixth before parring his final three holes on a much tougher day than Thursday, with the wind continuing to blow on the links in south east Scotland.

A four-strong group sit one shot further behind Woodland and Ghim, and leader Tringale will be looking over his shoulder at the big names waiting to pounce.

Matt Fitzpatrick is among them. The US Open Champion was flawless until bogeys at his last two holes but he signed for a 66.

Xander Schauffele went one better and his 65 was the lowest round of the day. Joining Fitzpatrick and Schauffele on three-under are Jordan Smith — who bagged a new car each for him and his caddie after an ace at the 17th — and Kurt Kitayama.

Tyrrell Hatton’s was on two-under alongside Rafa Cabrera Bello, Rickie Fowler, Rasmus Hojgaard and Joaquin Niemann.

Tringale, who is searching for his maiden victory on both the DP World Tour and PGA Tour in this co-sanctioned tournament, said: “It was definitely more difficult for me today. Yesterday, it seemed pretty easy, and today, it seemed like every hole was a grind to make par.

“So anyway, happy to be done and happy to be off the course and get some rest.

“I just want to keep going out and trying to play the best I can and hopefully get a good low one in tomorrow.

“I mean, the course I think is still gettable, honestly, even in the wind, I just need to play the par-fives a little better, and you know, work on those into the wind shots and I should be all right.”

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The post Genesis Scottish Open: Cameron Tringale holds onto three-shot lead at Renaissance Club appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Historically, the US Open is not so much a tournament as it is a test. It is both the championship’s aspiration as well as its aura, and at times its Achilles heel, yet there is no doubt that the player who is left standing had earned a respect for passing golf’s most thorough examination. Yet tests themselves warrant scrutiny, and a view of the recent past casts suspicion that the examination is as thorough as believed. Or if there’s now a singular answer that is correct no matter what is asked.

That answer is distance, and its unequivocal importance to winning begs an uncomfortable question: Has the US Open become too one-dimensional?

Make no mistake, the US Open continues to call for conviction, audacity and calculation. But throughout its lifetime it has been known for testing all aspects of the game. Accuracy and power off the tee, approaches that knew when to attack, when to play safe and above all else avoid disaster. Scrambling was not an asset but a prerequisite, and if your putter wasn’t on, neither was your name on the leaderboard.

Those abilities are still needed. How much they are needed, though, has arguably been diminished by power.

Take a glance at the US Open’s recent roll call of winners. Its last six championships have been won by Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Gary Woodland, Brooks Koepka (twice) and Dustin Johnson. That’s a lot of farm-boy strength. Ostensibly the last player not known for prodigious length to come out on top was Jordan Spieth at the 2015 US Open at Chambers Bay, yet that’s a bit of a misnomer, too; Spieth finished that season 15th in strokes gained/off-the-tee, above big hitters like Koepka, Jason Kokrak and Tony Finau.

In fact, the last seven winners all finished their seasons in their respective winning years in the top 20 in SG/off-the-tee, with Rahm, DeChambeau and Johnson finishing first or second in the category. Technically SG/approach has a stronger correlation to success at the US Open with five of the last six winners finishing T-6 or better in the stat, and the aberration — Johnson at Oakmont — wasn’t too shabby, either (T-11). However, the case can be made that it’s their power that puts them closer to the hole, leaving a shorter iron in hand and thus an easier second shot. And that said muscle allows them to keep driver in the bag for a 3-wood or long iron to find the fairway, knowing that it can compensate for whatever length is left in the bag. Or that, when they do find the rough, they have the muscle that others do not to give a go at the green rather than resigning to a safe pitch back into the fairway like some of their counterparts.

Bryson DeChambeau rode a bomb-and-gouge approach to win the 2020 US Open. Jamie Squire

It’s that last sentiment that permits a second look and how it pertains to the USGA and setup. For the first two rewards of power hitters — shorter irons in, the latitude to keep the big stick out — are advantages that the governing body can’t do too much about, nor should it: That is a reward that has been earned.

“I think distance has always provided an advantage for people,” says John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s chief championship officer. “You go back, it’s kind of relative in some ways. Bob Jones, when he won, and Jack Nicklaus and Tiger certainly, it’s always been part of it. You should probably have an advantage if you’re a little bit longer.”

But the US Open is supposed to put a premium on accuracy, not just in finding the fairway but the proper angle to allow for the best approach. Miss the fairway entirely and you’re hoping to advance the ball enough to retain a chance at par. That is the ideal, at least.

Not only are power hitters getting away without retribution, the rest of the field is actually more penalised. One of the common complaints from players at Winged Foot in 2020 and to an extent Torrey Pines last summer was that the fairways were so narrow that no one could hit them. If you’re taking away the field’s answer to distance in accuracy, the disparity between the long and the rest is even wider. The stats back this up: Only Koepka finished his week inside the top 20 in accuracy off the tee, and even that deserves an asterisk, as it came at Erin Hills, whose runaways were five-lanes wide.

To be fair, it’s not that recent US Open winners are merely bomb-and-gougers; few in the sport own games as complete as the reigning champ, Rahm. Moreover this trend is not unique to the US Open. What transpires at this event mirrors what you see weekly on the PGA Tour, and the PGA Championship has likewise been dominated over the past decade by players who are far from short. The Masters hasn’t been quite as affected, a byproduct of Augusta National’s standing as perhaps the best second-shot course in this country, while the Open Championship has been the most immune to the debate, as the Claret Jug requires a game played on the ground rather than the sky.

Conversely, as stated above, the US Open has fused its DNA to presenting a challenge more exhaustive than its counterparts, where pars matter and “good bogey” isn’t said in jest. When that challenge appears watered down, it calls for a larger discussion.

J. Stuart Francis, USGA President; Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA and John Bodenhamer, Chief Championships Officer, speak to the media at The Country Club on June 15, 2022 in Brookline, Massachusetts. Rob Carr

One of the ongoing conversations over the past decade has been distance gains, and the USGA — which governs equipment regulations in the United States — recently dropped a few more logs into the fire. In a notice to manufacturers on June 8, the USGA and R&A expanded its “areas of interest” regarding potential rules changes that would serve to not merely curb current distance at all levels of the game but at the tour level likely roll it back to distance levels from the 1990s.

“We’ve got to be the group that thinks about 30 years from now,” USGA CEO Mike Whan said. “Is this golf course obsolete to a certain level of players, or are golf courses like this never going to be built close to a city again because of the footprint?

“So what we’re trying to do is address the slope of a curve long-term. I think when we make changes that we’re proposing right now in distance, if we go through that process, people are going to be longer six years from now than they are today because guys are going to get stronger, more athletic, and I said that to the Tour players. … But we also need to slow down the curve of that line, the pace of that line in whatever we’re trying to address just to make sure that the game doesn’t outpace itself, and we wake up 30 years from now where our kids enter a game that’s weaker than the game we entered as kids.”

It seems the USGA knows how things are going, and where they are heading, are not sustainable for how this tournament is played and where the game wants to go. But when that will change and how remain uncertain. On multiple occasions Wednesday, Whan called the process “deliberate”.

True, the early reviews from Brookline forecast a championship traditionalists will love. “You need everything,” Rahm said. “You need to drive well, hit your irons well, chip well, and putt well and be mentally sane for four days. You can’t hide, period. I think that your biggest asset is mental strength out here, and that’s what you need.”

Justin Thomas added: “You always know the US Open is a grind. That’s why I love it. I think that’s why a lot of guys love it. It’s one of the few times of the year you’re kind of playing more in relation to par, and par is a good score. Driving the ball is going to be very important this week. I think like any major, especially the US Open, scrambling and salvaging and making those putts for par can kind of be the momentum builders.”

And according to Bodenhamer the things that are supposed to matter at US Opens will matter at The Country Club.

“What we do in a US Open, we endeavor to have the players get every club in their bag dirty,” Bodenhamer said. “This will be a good old-fashioned US Open with rough, and we’ll see how they navigate that and what they use off the tee,” Bodenhamer says. “It is not our narrowest, but will provide narrowness. I am telling you with these small greens and the firmness, they’re going to need to be in the fairway.”

Of course, there’s a difference between practice round recon and tournament play. After years of presenting golf’s most difficult test, the players have figured out the answer key. The Country Club is the USGA’s chance to offer a response.

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The post US Open 2022: Has the major become too one-dimensional? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Believe it or not, we’re seven months into the PGA Tour’s 2020-21 “Super Season.” There’s already been three majors (with three more to come!), a Players Championship and a pair of WGCs. It may feel like there’s still a ways to go, but in reality we’re more than halfway done.

With that being the case, it’s officially time to start sweating for some of the game’s higher profile players, and by sweating we mean keeping an eye on the FedEx Cup standings. This season, a number of former major winners, tour winners and usual FedEx Cup Playoff locks are on the outside looking in at the moment. Yes, there are 18 events left until the first leg of the playoffs, The Northern Trust at Liberty National, which seems like a lot until you consider that we’ve played 27 tournaments already, so some serious ground needs to be made up.

Here are eight tour pros who you might be surprised have work to do to get inside the top 125 by season’s end.

Steve Dykes

Rickie Fowler (Current FEC ranking: 128th)

Rickie’s slump has been well-documented, and yet, of the names on this list, he’s the closest to cracking the top 125 as it currently stands. It helps that his “slump” has included a T-29 in the November Masters, a T-21 at The American Express, a T-20 at Riviera and a T-17 at Valero the week before the Masters, his best finish since the WGC-FedEx St. Jude last summer. No, none of those finishes are up to Fowler’s standards, but they’ve been good enough to keep him hanging around that 125 mark. Like his buddy Jordan Spieth, Fowler seems to be very invested in “the process,” one he hopes will net similar results to those Spieth is seeing. If it doesn’t soon, however, he’ll be in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in his PGA Tour career.

• • •

Kevin C. Cox

Justin Rose (Current FEC ranking: 135th)

Rose began to show flashes of his former World No. 1 self last June, starting with a T-3 at Colonial, the first post-pandemic tour event. He backed that up with a ninth at the PGA in August and a T-2 at the European Tour’s Saudi International in early 2021. A bad back knocked him out of Bay Hill while he was in contention, though, and it seemed like an issue that seriously stunted his progress. Then he grabbed the first-round lead at the Masters and contended deep into the weekend, ultimately finishing solo seventh. If the back holds up, there’s no doubt he’ll be a regular contender again, which would seem to make advancing into the FedEx Cup Playoffs a formality. The Englishman has advanced to the playoffs 12 straight times, including 2018, when he infamously won the FedEx Cup despite not winning the Tour Championship (some guy named Tiger won that one).

• • •

Steve Dykes

Brandt Snedeker (Current FEC ranking: 136th)

Like Rose, Snedeker is another former FedEx Cup champion who has been a regular in the playoffs. Injuries combined with poor form have been an issue in 2020-21, although he seems to be turning a corner. Just two weeks ago, Sneds tied for sixth at the Valero, his first top-10 since the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open. He’s in the field this week at the RBC Heritage, an event he won in 2011 and has four other top-25 finishes.

• • •

Kevin C. Cox

Gary Woodland (Current FEC ranking: 140th)

Woodland, like Rose and Snedeker, also has had some injury concerns that have led to a rough stretch for the 2019 U.S. Open champ. Back in the fall, Woodland finished 72nd at the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek, then withdrew from the Zozo Championship at Sherwood his next start, and could be seen lying on a tee box with back pain before being carted off. He’s had a semi bounce back since, with a T-16 at the AMEX and a T-6 at the Valero, and appears to be feeling better. Though, following a solid first round at the Players, Woodland said if it flares up again he’ll have to go under the knife. For now, he’s playing better and feeling better, which he should be able to start capitalizing on. Woodland hasn’t missed the playoffs since 2012.

• • •

Harry How

Byeong Hun An (Current FEC ranking: 151st)

You might laugh at Benny An making a “big names” list, but An was once ranked 24th in the world, and he hasn’t missed the tour’s postseason since 2016. The super season has not been kind, however, to the 29-year-old former U.S. Amateur champion. In 15 starts he’s missed eight cuts, with only one top-10. He’s too talented for that to continue, though if the putter remains ice cold it may be too much to overcome.

• • •

Jared C. Tilton

Phil Mickelson (Current FEC ranking: 157th)

Even last year, when Mickelson’s struggles began, he still was able to sneak into The Northern Trust, continuing his streak of making it to the playoffs every season since their inception in 2007. That streak is now officially in danger, as Lefty has failed to post a single top-20 in the 2020-21 season. The ball-striking has turned around, and he continues to grind his face off, but the putter, once one of his greatest weapons, has vanished. If Mickelson is to be believed, he’s “close,” and he often does his best work with his back against the wall. As of now, he’s not currently in the U.S. Open field, and it’s becoming increasingly likely that he gets left off the Ryder Cup team for the first time since 1993. Those would be two crushing blows for Mickelson, who wants to still compete with the young guns but knows a life of dominating the PGA Tour Champions, and/or sliding into the broadcast booth is calling.

• • •

Kevin C. Cox

Danny Willett (Current FEC ranking: 159th)

Willett, like so many other European Tour pros, had his positive momentum get somewhat stifled by the pandemic. He had just began to turn his career back around in 2018 and 2019 with multiple European Tour wins, but in the post-COVID world he has just two top-10s in 25 starts. The good news—one of those came recently at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, a sign he’s settling back into PGA Tour life. He’s since followed up with consecutive MCs at the Valero and the Masters, but will look to get back on track at Harbour Town, where he’s MC’d in all three career appearances.

• • •

Jared C. Tilton

Henrik Stenson (Current FEC ranking: 170th)

Like many of the names above, Stenson’s game has gone completely missing over the last year and change. The former World No. 2 and FedEx Cup champ won the Hero World Challenge in 2019 just before the calendar turned to 2020, but has been a mess since, with zero top-10s to be found. There was signs of life last week at the Masters, where he was one under after 54 holes and wound up tying for 38th, but he’ll need a lot more than T-38s to start climbing the rankings. If he fails to reach the playoffs, it would mark the third straight time he’s missed the postseason, though one of those years, 2019, Stenson was eligible but skipped them entirely.

The post 8 players you might be surprised have work to do to reach the FedEx Cup Playoffs appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
Gary Woodland, Doc Redman and Scott Piercy are out of the Honda Classic after testing positive for COVID-19.

All three competed in the Players Championship last week, which admitted 20 percent of its maximum spectator capacity last week as professional sports begin to welcome fans back to arenas, stadiums and fields. Piercy played in all four rounds, finishing T-69, while Woodland (70-76) and Redman (73-73) missed the cut.

“Unfortunately, I had to withdraw from the Honda Classic after testing positive for Covid-19,” Woodland wrote on Twitter. “I’m grateful to be feeling good and disappointed to not be in the field this week. I’m working with the tour in regards to safely returning to competition and hope to be back soon.”

The positive test is the latest blow to Woodland. The 2019 U.S. Open champ has missed the cut in six of 11 events this season as he continues to battle back woes, sitting at 169th in the FedEx Cup standings. Redman opened the season with a third-place showing at the Safeway Open and followed up with a fourth-place finish at the Bermuda Championship, but has not finished better than T-61 since November. Piercy also had a strong fall start with three top 25s but has not posted a finish better than T-50 in 2021.

According to the tour, both players are in their self-isolation period under CDC guidelines.

The Honda Classic announced Sebastian Cappelen will take Woodland’s spot in the field, with D.J. Trahan subbing in for Piercy. Kiradech Aphibarnrat will replace Redman in the field.

The post Three players test positive for COVID-19 after Players Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
Gary Woodland had been looking forward to coming to Winged Foot and defending his U.S. Open title, even if he knew inside his repeat chances were slim, thanks to a secret he revealed on Friday.

After posting a second-straight four-over 74 to put him a stroke outside the projected cutline, the 36-year-old told the media that he has a torn labrum in his left hip.

“I’ve got a lot of pain in there,” he said. “I’ve been fighting through it, but it gets to a point where you’re playing against the best players in the world, you just can’t play with pain. I’ve played with pain my whole life, but it’s getting a little tough.”

Woodland, who said that he plans to see a specialist on Monday, added that the injury has bothered him for the last six weeks. During that span, he had just one finish in the top 50, a T-33 at the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields, where he failed to advance in the PGA Tour’s playoffs.

This week at Winged Foot, things only got tougher, especially on Friday.

Woodland began his second round with a double bogey on the par-3 10th after hitting his tee shot long and left out of play. He bounced back with a birdie at the 14th but then made three straight bogeys before playing his final nine in even par, leaving him on the outside looking in when he finished his round.

“The game is actually, I feel like, in a pretty good spot, doing things really well and just can’t get around the pain,” he said. “It’s frustrating, especially because this meant a lot to me, coming back here defending. I put a lot of time and effort into it, and if your body doesn’t let you do it, you just can’t do it, and that’s frustrating. The first couple months back from quarantine I wasn’t playing great. Finally got to a point where I feel like the game is as good as it’s been, I just can’t do it, so I’ve got to reevaluate.”

At last year’s U.S. Open, Woodland claimed the first major title of his career, coasting to a three-stroke victory over Koepka with a 13-under 271 total, which was the lowest total score relative to par in the event since 2011 at Congressional.

The post Gary Woodland’s title defence hampered by torn labrum in hip appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall
MAMARONECK, N.Y. —The 2020 U.S. Open will not fall on Father’s Day, but another tournament rite endures: Social media videos of balls tossed into the rough to show the danger that awaits those who venture off the fairways. A true tradition unlike any other.

Which, admittedly, is a bit odd. It’s the U.S. Open! What do you expect, AstroTurf mats in the second cut? (That sound you hear is Keith Pelley writing down the Euro Tour’s next “innovation”.) But yes, the rough at Winged Foot is something fierce. Just take it from Gary Woodland.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday ahead of his title defence, Woodland was asked what has been the worst lie he’s seen so far at Winged Foot. According to Woodland, it was a lie he couldn’t see.

“I was chipping, my caddie was throwing me balls back to me chipping and we lost a ball for about five minutes and it was right in front of me,” Woodland said. “We didn’t find it until we stepped on it. The golf ball can disappear pretty quickly.”

OK, that’s pretty darn deep.

Not helping matters was Woodland made his initial trek on Saturday. Without volunteer spotters on the property yet, Woodland and caddie Brennan Little were having a heck of a time finding errant shots.

“I was talking to the USGA, I was glad they were bringing marshals out yesterday. There was talks of not having marshals the first couple practice rounds. The practice rounds would have been 10 hours out here trying to find golf balls,” Woodland said.

Even without fans, there will be plenty of eyes come Thursday, and Woodland doesn’t anticipate losing any balls by going off the fairway. Nevertheless, staying as far away from the high stuff is the name of the game this week.

“They do have progressive rough, but the progressive rough is so thick it drops to the bottom. So a huge key of keeping the golf ball out of that thick rough, and then when you do get in it, take your medicine, get wedged out and attack from the middle of the fairway,” Woodland says.

Woodland will try to go back-to-back at the U.S. Open starting at 1:05 p.m. Thursday.

The post Winged Foot’s rough is so long Gary Woodland lost a ball trying to chip appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.