Back from brain surgery, ‘great things are ahead’ for Gary Woodland

LOS ANGELES – Gary Woodland dealt with loss of appetite and energy, jolting awake in the middle of the night, tremors and an overwhelming feeling of fear until doctors could figure out what was wrong.

A benign lesion resting on his brain had to be removed before he could feel like himself again. Less than four months after undergoing brain surgery, the 2019 US Open champion is ready to make his inspirational return to professional golf this week at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

“It’s been a long process. One (that) maybe even a couple of weeks ago I didn’t know if this week was possible. It’s been a journey for me, too, but this was a goal of mine from surgery to be back,” Woodland said on Jan 9.

The 39-year-old American said his symptoms began in April, and he thought they could be related to panic attacks. He had his first MRI in May; specialists soon found the lesion and said Woodland’s jolting were partial seizures.

“The lesion in my brain sat on the part of my brain that controls fear and anxiety,” he explained.

“(The specialist) is like, ‘You’re not going crazy. Everything you’re experiencing is common and normal for where this thing is sitting in your brain’.”

The initial course of action was medication, and the first dose was not large enough. Woodland said he began losing memories and had “horrible side effects” from the medicine.

Throughout that time, he kept playing on the PGA Tour. He was making cuts, far more than the previous season, and after all, it gave him a break from thinking about his off-the-course struggles. However, his symptoms soon found their way into his golf game, too.

“I would be standing over a club and forget which club I’m hitting. I would be lining up putts and think, ‘This is taking too long. I’m just going to hit it’. Didn’t have the focus or the energy,” he said.

Woodland played through the Wyndham Championship in August before his caddie took him aside and told him he needed to “get fixed”.

The lesion, which he said was up against his optic tract, could not be fully removed without risking loss of eyesight. Instead, surgeons removed as much as they could.

Post-surgery, he feels like a new man.

“When I woke up and realised I was OK, I was filled with thankfulness and love,” Woodland said.

“It was very emotional because I had gone 4½ months of every day really thinking I was going to die. This thing pushing on my brain – didn’t matter if I was driving a car, on a plane, I thought everything was going to kill me.”

Now Woodland will continue to take medicine and receive MRIs to monitor the lesion.

He was back to hitting balls five weeks later, even though his surgeon advised him he would not want to compete for a while as he regains his mental focus.

Woodland has little fear, however. His only fear previously was the fear of failure, of not being a great golfer. But now he has a new outlook on life.

“At the end of the day, I just want to prove you can do hard things,” Woodland said.

“I want to prove to my kids nobody is going to tell you you can’t do anything. You can overcome tough, scary decisions. This came out of nowhere for me, but I’m not going to let it stop me.

“I don’t want this to be a bump on the road for me. I want it to be a jump-start in my career. Nothing is going to stop me. I believe that a lot of great things are ahead.” REUTERS