Who is everyone’s favorite at the Masters? It may be Gary Woodland

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Gary Woodland sees the girl in the white bucket hat, but she sees just his blue pant legs. Maybe.   

She’s only a few years old, only a couple of feet tall and very timid, so mom had gently pushed her toward where other boys and girls were staring at Woodland, wishing for an autograph, a photo or all of the above. No one leaves without some ink or a smile, though. 

Even the girl in the white bucket hat. Woodland looks down. She’s kinda just there, just looking at the green metal fence in front of her at the spot near Augusta National’s practice putting green, and Woodland laughs, then everyone does.

He’d always been a darling, and he’s maybe the favorite this week at the Masters, at least based on what you pick up anywhere Woodland walks around ANGC. Pros included. On the range, Scottie Scheffler taps him on the belly. Chris Gotterup slaps his hand. Matt McCarty, too. Woodland hugs J.J. Spaun, last week’s PGA Tour winner. Two weeks ago, Woodland won. Four weeks ago, in an interview on Golf Channel, he confessed. In 2023, he’d undergone a procedure to remove part of a lesion that had been found on the part of his brain that controls fear, but he was still fighting. He had now been diagnosed with PTSD. He’d have to be unaccommodating occasionally, especially when things became overstimulating. 

Everyone’s more than stuck around, which Woodland said has surprised him, though admissions like that are why everyone came to him in the first place.

“It’s probably the first thing I’ve done for myself,” Woodland said. “I did it because I was really struggling with energy. I was struggling to say no. I don’t like to say no. I like to help people. I like to do everything I can.

“I’m at a point where it’s hard for me to do most weeks, and I need to say no. The doctors are pushing me and pushing me [that] I can’t do everything I used to do from an energy standpoint. When I say no, I feel horrible. I see the disappointment in people’s eyes. And they’re like, well, then maybe it is time to come out because now people will know why you’re saying no.”

To himself, he’s felt empowered, which he hadn’t anticipated. 

He believed in avoiding opening up, but doing so has given him strength. You can spot that in his golf, though recent 190 mph-plus ball speed has come through coach Randy Smith. (“I’ve been telling guys I think I’m just angry that I have to battle this thing in my head,” Woodland said.) Fellow pro Justin Thomas has also told him he appears more at ease, but Woodland believes that’s due more to his condition, interestingly. “The doctors and everybody I’m working with were trying to slow my heart rate down, were trying to slow my thoughts down just to function and be healthy. But doing those things obviously helps my golf game as well,” he said. “I wish I knew a lot of this stuff 20 years ago.” A security presence has also helped Woodland, who remains susceptible to movement or noise. “It can be a fan. It can be a walking score. It can be a camera guy running by me, just any startlement from behind me can trigger this pretty quickly,” Woodland said. “Knowing where the security is is a constant reminder that I’m safe.”

His golf, though, has given him purpose for others, he said. 

Like the patron on the practice green who, in a quiet moment, said in his direction: “Gary, we have your back.” That got a thumbs up. 

Like the girl in the white bucket hat, too. 

“When I was diagnosed with this brain tumor three years ago, my number one thought was I wasn’t going to let this thing win,” Woodland said. “I’ve dreamed of being a professional athlete since I was a little kid, and I would do everything in my power to live that dream for my childhood self.

“Golf has given me something a lot more to fight for than just myself and my family. I love being out here. I love the guys. I love competing. And the thought of losing that is hard.”

Tuesday, during his pre-Masters press conference, Woodland at times choked back tears. He said he thought he was close to never returning to the Masters and that he was proud of earning his way back. He said Augusta National will be stimulant-heavy, and that he will still have “a battle in my head if I’m safe or not. That’s a tough pill to swallow.” 

But each day here will be appreciated, he said. 

That can be endearing to folks. 

“I’ve got to worry about today,” Woodland said. “That’s a big tell. I love this place. I love the tradition. There’s nothing like driving down Magnolia Lane. I definitely drove down a little slower this year than I ever have, even the first time I was here in 2011. 

“I’m definitely taking it all in this week, for sure.”