Gary Woodland Gets Hole in One at Masters Par 3 Contest Less Than Year After Brain Surgery

Patrick Andres | Apr 10, 2024

Apr 9, 2024; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Gary Woodland hits out of a bunker on no. 2. / Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports

Gary Woodland is in the midst of a long road to recovery.

On Sept. 18, the 2019 US Open champion went under the knife to remove a brain lesion. Doctors opened a hole in his head the size of a baseball for the operation, which followed months of symptoms including tremors, chills and lack of sleep.

"The jolting and everything I was experiencing at night was partial seizures. The lesion in my brain sat on the part of my brain that controls fear and anxiety," Woodland told reporters in January. "(The doctor's) like, 'You're not going crazy. Everything you're experiencing is common and normal for where this thing is sitting in your brain.'"

With this harrowing ordeal behind him, Woodland is back on the course.

On Wednesday afternoon, he drew a huge ovation for making a hole in one in The Masters' annual par-3 contest.

Gary Woodland's first career hole-in-one at the Par 3 Contest. #themasters pic.twitter.com/gGbJTHb8PK

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 10, 2024

Seeking to better a career-best 14th-place Masters finish in 2023, Woodland will tee off Thursday at 8:48 a.m. ET.