PGA TOUR: Cameron Champ leads Fall Swing’s most dominant players
By Bill Felber
Gary Woodland is an established pro, a three-time PGA TOUR winner widely recognized for his ability to bomb the ball. Currently 30th in the Official World Golf Rankings, he averaged 313.4 yards per drive last season, seventh longest on the PGA TOUR, and better than renowned bombers Brooks Koepka and Bubba Watson. He also made more than $3 million last season, 29th among all tour players.
In short, he doesn’t fit the profile of a guy spending regular time on the fall tour. But Woodland, who hit the tour in 2009, is a workaholic, averaging 26 starts per season since 2011. He doesn’t miss many.
As might be anticipated, Woodland’s four starts against the generally distilled fall fields have produced a pair of competitive title runs paired with two other performances that fell into the category of “decent.”
His best came at the CIMB when he tied for fifth, although six shots behind champion Marc Leishman. A few weeks later at the Shriners, Woodland tied for 10th, seven strokes behind Bryson DeChambeau.
His performances have Woodland third on the 2019 money list behind only Brooks Koepka and Xander Schauffele and nearly halfway to the $3.1 million he took away all last season. His next challenge, though, is probably to improve his performance in major events. Woodland has played in 28 of them, but has only one top 10, that coming in his most recent start, the 2018 PGA Champoinship at Bellerive. He tied for sixth.