Gary Woodland Plagued By Inconsistencies In 2022
By Sean McCann
Gary Woodland has had an interesting career. The 37-year-old American was once regarded as one of the World’s best golfers, once ranked 12th in the World during the 2019 season.
That was in large part due to his outstanding 2019 U.S. Open victory over Brooks Koepka, and the part Woodland played later that year in helping the United States win the 2019 President’s Cup. Gary Woodland has enjoyed a successful career since turning professional in 2007 out of the University of Kansas and he still has a large part of his career ahead of him.
However, Gary Woodland’s 2019 U.S. Open victory was his last victory to date, and he has now slipped to 99th in the Official World Rankings. Fast forward to 2022 and Gary Woodland has had quite the entertaining season so far.
Gary Woodland’s fascinating year to date
The 2022 PGA Tour season has displayed two different sides of Gary Woodland’s game. Currently ranked 57th in the FedEx Cup Standings, he has quietly had several strong performances but yet he still seems to be a forgotten man on most occasions.
In Woodland’s 14 events so far this season, you would be surprised to find out that he has 4 top-10s and 7 top-40 finishes. The other 7 events were all missed cuts. Based on those statistics, the American seems to have either very strong or very poor showings. This lack of consistency is evident when you learn that Gary has only made consecutive cuts just once this season. While I’m sure that he is happy with his current ranking and top-10 finishes, more consistency in his performances will be something he strives towards. So what is it that has worked this season for Gary Woodland and what hasn’t?
We know that the Kansas native can crush the ball, as Woodland currently ranks 15th on Tour in Driving Distance (311.3 yards). However, that doesn’t mean very much when you are also ranked 178th on Tour in Driving Accuracy (53.72%). This requires Gary Woodland to remain strong with his scrambling abilities, he currently ranks 42nd on Tour (63.97) in that department. Overall the American has statistically been rather strong this season, ranking 26th on Tour in total Strokes Gained (1.083).
With statistics like this, it is rather confusing as to why exactly Gary Woodland has already missed 7 cuts. The fact that he also can’t find any type of consistency is puzzling. Being so close to the top-50 in FedEx Cup Standings, if Gary Woodland can find a bit more consistency, especially in the upcoming Majors, look out!
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We’ve all seen how dominant he can be when his entire game comes together and there’s no reason why 2019 Gary Woodland can’t reappear this season. After a T-24 finish at last weekend’s Mexico Open, the American will now look ahead to this week’s Wells Fargo Championship, a tournament that he certainly seems to enjoy after finishing 5th last year, just three shots behind eventual champion Rory McIlroy.