Gary Woodland Gets Emotional as He Plays with His Kids at First Masters Par 3 Contest Since Brain Surgery
· Yahoo Sports
Credit: ESPN/X; Andrew Redington/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Gary Woodland got choked up in his return to Augusta
- The golfer spoke to ESPN about coming back to the iconic Masters tournament, where he played the Par 3 Contest with his family on Wednesday
- Woodland, 41, underwent brain surgery in September 2023
Gary Woodland is savoring the special moments at the Masters!
The golfer, 41, who played the tournament’s Par 3 Contest on Wednesday, April 8 alongside his three children and wife Gabby, shared his perspective on being at Augusta National just two and a half years after he underwent brain surgery.
“This is what the fight’s for, today, right now,” Woodland told ESPN’s Marty Smith. “Yeah, it’s hard, the fight, it’s real every day but this is it right here.”
Woodland and his family — he and Gabby are parents to son Jaxon, 8, and identical twin girls Maddox and Lennox, 5 — were full of smiles during the event, but the golfer got emotional when he tried to describe his feelings about how far he’s come.
“To share this moment with my kids is everything,” he said as his voice broke, speaking about his three young children.
Woodland earned an invitation to the Masters less than two weeks ago after he nabbed his fifth career win on the tour at the Texas Children’s Houston Open on March 29.
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"This is what the fight's for. ... Share this moment with my kids, this is everything."
— ESPN (@espn) April 8, 2026
Gary Woodland, who underwent brain surgery in 2023 to remove a lesion and has been diagnosed with PTSD, describes to @MartySmithESPN what the Masters Par 3 Contest means to him ❤️ pic.twitter.com/s8vk6nJrT9
The win came weeks after he revealed in an interview with the Golf Channel that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following his 2023 surgery to remove a lesion on his brain.
"Every week, I come out and everyone is so excited and happy that I'm back,” Woodland told the outlet. “I hear that every week: 'It's so nice to see you passed this. It's so nice to see you 100%,' And I appreciate that love and support, but inside, I feel like I'm dying.”
He continued, “I feel like I'm living a lie. And I don't want to waste energy on that anymore. I want to focus my energy on me and my recovery, my dreams out here, my family. I don't want to waste energy hiding this."
Woodland recalled a recent experience in which he was triggered when a scorer in his group got too close for his comfort.
As he works through his recovery, the Kansas native told reporters after his win in Houston that it was “just another day.”
“Today was a good day,” he said. “But I've got a big fight ahead of me, and I'm going to keep going. But I'm proud of myself right now."
Read the original article on People