'I Can't Waste Energy Anymore Hiding This' - Gary Woodland Reveals PTSD Diagnosis

Gary Woodland has revealed he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

The 2019 US Open champion, who underwent brain surgery in September 2023 to remove a benign tumour, told the Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard that he was diagnosed with the condition a year ago.

Following the surgery, Woodland returned to action at the 2024 Sony Open in Hawaii, where he explained that the tumor had been affecting the part of his brain that controls fear and anxiety.

Woodland continued feeling his way into life on the PGA Tour, and appeared back to his old self at last year’s Texas Children's Houston Open, where he placed T2 behind winner Min Woo Lee. However, he revealed to Hoggard that, despite appearances, that is not the case.

An emotional Woodland said: “I still battled symptoms the whole time and a year ago now, I was diagnosed with PTSD, and it’s been hard. It’s a battle that I didn’t understand when we started.”

Asked by Hoggard why he chose this moment to open up on his struggles, Woodland added: "I can't waste energy anymore hiding this, and I'm blessed with a lot of support out here on the Tour.

"I appreciate that love and support. But inside, I feel like I'm dying and I feel like I'm living a lie."

Woodland, who received the PGA Tour Courage Award in February last year in honor of his professional comeback, also recalled a specific moment at the 2025 Procore Championship, where his symptoms became too much.

"I was hypervigilant," he said. "A walking scorer startled me, got close to me from behind. I pulled my caddie and said, ‘You can't let anybody get behind me.’

"Next thing you know, I couldn't remember what I was doing. My eyesight started to get blurry and a hole later I said, ‘Butch [caddie Brennan Little], I can’t handle it and I just started balling in the middle of the fairway."

"I went into every bathroom to cry the rest of the day. When I got done, I got in my car and got out of there."

"There are days when it's tough - crying in the scoring trailer, running to my car just to hide it. I don't want to live that way anymore."

Despite Woodland's harrowing account of his troubles, he revealed that, with the help of the PGA Tour, there has been an improvement in his condition.

He said: "I want to let it out, I want to let it go, because I am getting better. From that day, we were able to talk to the Tour at the end of the year, we've been in contact with the security. They've put protocols in place where I feel safe now... but it's been a journey."