While Recovering From Brain Surgery, Gary Woodland Maintains High Expectations

The fact that the former U.S. Open winner is playing at all is remarkable and Bob Harig reminds that some perspective is in order.

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LOS ANGELES — Gary Woodland completed his round on Sunday at Riviera Country Club before the leaders teed off for the final 18 holes of the Genesis Invitational.

Teeing off in the morning chill with temperatures barely 50 degrees is hardly what Woodland had in mind. The 2019 U.S. Open champion expects to be pushing those guys playing for the trophy, if not winning it himself.

Of course, that’s the problem for Woodland at this point. It’s hard to shake lofty expectations, even though he has every reason to give himself a break and look at the bigger picture.

Gary Woodland is just five months removed from brain surgery yet playing again on the PGA Tour :: Ben Jared/Getty Images

"My expectation is to show up and win," said Woodland, who made the cut for the first time this year in four starts. "Maybe that's unrealistic. When I showed up at Sony (in Hawaii), obviously I was very rusty, but I could hit every shot. It's a matter if I could do it for four rounds, which I didn't do. But I'm not showing up thinking about making a cut. If I do that, it's probably time for me to hang 'em up."

Woodland, 39, returned in January after surgery Sept. 18 for a lesion on his brain. The times during last summer and into the fall after the surgery were harrowing, and Woodland discussed in Hawaii his fears of death.

The lesion was impacting the part of the brain that deals with fear and Woodland—who has a scar covered by hair running from the left side of his scalp down to his ear—went through all the emotions.

Coming back to tournaments at the Sony, Torrey Pines and Phoenix was supposed to evoke good memories and better golf but Woodland was frustrated with his inability to produce on the course.

Patience is slow.

"That's hard; it is hard especially when physically I'm able to do everything," Woodland said. "It's just mentally I'm not able to do everything yet. But it's getting better and that's where the support team comes in. I rely heavily on my caddie (Brennan Little) and everyone on my team, if they see something, sit me down and tell me. Everyone's communicating together because me being in control of myself is probably not the best thing right now because I would like to push through it and that's the worst thing I could do."

Last week during the WM Phoenix Open, Woodland said he had a bad day in practice and Little forced him to take a day off.

"Just didn't feel like myself, very irritable, moody, just not all there really," Woodland said. "When that happens, I've got to get into a dark room. Really concussion protocol more than anything, turn the lights off, no noise, no probably overstimulation, which last week there's a lot of stimulation going on."

There was plenty during the first round at Riviera, too. Woodland was grouped with Justin Thomas and Tiger Woods, the tournament host. Woodland received a sponsor invite to play.

He started strong, birdieing the first three holes before finishing with 70. He had to grind to make the cut on Friday, his first made cut of the year. And he ended tied for 39th.

Woodland admitted he expected results quicker. He actually played some good golf last year while dealing with symptoms and testing that led to surgery. The fact he expects to be right back in the mix is probably due to the mindset associated with elite athletes and players.

"Just because physically ... after surgery you expect everything's O.K., now we can start moving forward," he said. "And I'm still recovering, still going through MRIs, still going through that process, still on the meds. But I'm just learning that. I just figured I'd come out and start playing great again. I struggled for a long time and figured out why I was struggling and what was going on.

"I figured O.K., now I'll play great golf again. It's been a little bit harder than I thought, but it's coming."

Woodland admitted that others who’ve gone through a similar ordeal are surprised to learn he is playing so soon.

And so perhaps some perspective is in order. He’s not happy with a tie for 39th. But he's playing and showing improvement, with his next opportunity coming at the Cognizant (formerly Honda) Classic following a week off.