Gary Woodland builds 3-shot lead at Houston Open
HOUSTON — Gary Woodland he felt a weight lifted from talking publicly about his psychological well being, and he regarded freer than ever Friday with a 7-under 63 within the Houston Open to construct a three-shot lead going into the weekend at Memorial Park.
Woodland appeared extra happy with not getting down about one dangerous swing than his end of three straight birdies that allowed him to construct some separation.
He was at 13-under 127, three forward of Nicolai Hojgaard (62) and Jackson Suber (63) on a snug day of fine scoring for many everybody.
Brooks Koepka was an exception. Coming off a 75 marred by three double bogeys within the first spherical, Koepka had a triple bogey on the par-3 second gap, his eleventh of the day. He shot 69 to overlook the lower for the second time since his return from LIV Golf.
Woodland wasn’t dialed in off the tee, hitting solely 5 fairways, however Memorial Park has sufficient room to let it fly and he was hardly ever out of place. He completed his spherical with a wedge to three toes on the par-5 sixteenth, a 15-foot birdie on the seventeenth and a 12-foot birdie on the 18th.
But what caught with him was a tee shot he yanked into the water left of the thirteenth fairway, resulting in a penalty drop and finally having to make a 4-foot putt to flee with bogey.
“I was proud of myself because what Randy Smith, my coach, calls an ‘oops.’ I had a bad swing there on 13, and I’ve hit it so well the last couple days, I didn’t let that bother me,” Woodland stated. “I told myself to forget about it and move on, and I was able to do that. That was a big change for me to let that go and keep doing what I’ve been doing the last couple days.”
The 2019 US Open champion has been enjoying a well-rounded sport, accountable for his swing and assured on the greens after he realized his alignment was off and altered his putter to assist.
Mostly, he feels large assist and larger consolation following his choice to publicly talk about his post-traumatic stress disorder. Woodland is recovering from September 2023 mind surgical procedure to take away a lesion that causes moments of unfounded worry.
He felt “1,000 pounds lighter” after that Golf Channel interview. And he is feeling it from the gallery in Houston as he goes after a win that may get him within the Masters.
“There’s no doubt, and I feed off that,” Woodland stated. “This as much as any week, I feel like I’ve had a lot of support. Kind of feel like I’m playing at home. The fans have been amazing. I kind of need that energy to help me through the day, that definitely helps. That’s something hopefully I can ride on this weekend as well.”
Hojgaard additionally has the Masters on his thoughts. He is No. 47 on the planet rating, and the highest 50 after this week safe invites to Augusta National in two weeks. Hojgaard eliminated plenty of doubt along with his spherical of 62. He did Woodland one higher, making birdies on his final 4 holes.
“It’s so easy to say it’s not on my mind, good golf will take care of it,” Hojgaard stated of the Masters. “It’s on my mind 100%. We all want to be there. But when I’m playing golf out there, I didn’t think about it today. I feel like my game is good enough to qualify for it, but there’s two more days here in Houston and I like where my game is at.”
Defending champion Min Woo Lee and Jason Day every shot 63 and had been 4 photographs behind, with Michael Thorbjornsen (64) one other shot again. Thorbjornsen is at No. 56 on the planet — he misplaced a giant alternative to maneuver up with a tough Sunday at The Players Championship — however he’s in good condition going into the weekend in Houston.
Pierceson Coody‘s probabilities of the Masters took a giant hit. The grandson of 1971 Masters champion Charles Coody is at No. 51 on the planet. But he was pressured to withdraw with a again damage Friday morning. He is projected to go to No. 50 however would wish nobody to go him.
