KU alum Woodland returns to Phoenix Open, site of his last non-major PGA win
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- Scottie Scheffler names Gary Woodland his first pick for a Pro‑Am basketball five.
- Woodland leans on Bill Self and his KU ties while working toward a 2026 resurgence.
- Woodland recalls his 2018 WM Phoenix Open win at TPC Scottsdale (−18 playoff).
Scottie Scheffler was asked to build a basketball starting five consisting of fellow PGA pros during Wednesday’s WM Phoenix Open Pro-Am.
He made it seem like his first pick was an obvious one.
“You’ve gotta start with Gary Woodland,” Scheffler said.
Then, referencing the Kansas Jayhawks alum’s stint on Washburn’s basketball team, Scheffler noted Woodland would be “a tough one to pass up.”
Pretty high praise coming from the best golfer in the game. (Woodland soon returned the favor, telling The Star that Scheffler would be in his starting five, too.)
As a former college hoops player, Kansan and Jayhawk, Woodland would know what to look for in constructing a starting five. Of course, it helps having someone like Bill Self, KU’s 23rd-year head coach, in your corner.
“I spend a lot of time with him,” Woodland, 41, said of Self. “It’s always nice to pick his brain when things are going good and things are going bad, to get some advice.”
What a comeback story it would be
As he works his way through the early part of the 2026 season, that relationship is just one of the valuable resources Woodland has at his disposal. His goal is returning to the winner’s circle, and this would be a great weekend to do it.
Woodland has fond memories at TPC Scottsdale. He took home the Phoenix Open title here in 2018, finishing at 18-under and beating Chez Reavie in a playoff.
But aside from a mammoth victory in the 2019 U.S. Open, that 2018 tourney represents Woodland’s last win on the PGA Tour.
Woodland underwent brain surgery in September 2023 after discovery of a tumor. Over the past two years, he said, the recovery process has been exhausting. Though he returned to PGA competition in 2024, he made just 15 of 26 cuts, with only three finishes in the top 25 that year.
He slowly returned to something closer to form in 2025. He had eight top-25 finishes, making 16 of 22 cuts. He was runner-up at the Texas Children’s Houston Open in March, posting “this might be the best second place has ever felt” on his Instagram afterward.
“It’s been a journey,” Woodland said Wednesday. “I understand that I’m recovering. Sometimes I get excited because I feel a lot better than I do other days.”
He still has difficult ones, to be sure. But he said his doctors are happy with where he’s at, and he’s going to “continue to heal on this journey.”
“This one’s special for a lot of reasons,” Woodland said of the course he’ll negotiate for real starting on Thursday. “Obviously I’ve had some success here winning in ‘18, which is great, but I have a lot of friends and support here.”
A special friendship that endures
One of those friends is Amy Bockerstette. She’s the first person with Down Syndrome to both receive an athletic scholarship to attend college (Paradise Valley Community in Phoenix) and also compete in a national collegiate championship.
Bockerstette teamed up with Woodland during a practice round for the 2019 Phoenix Open. On the course’s infamous par-3 No. 16 — regarded as the loudest at the traditionally boisterous event — Bockerstette hit her tee shot into a greenside bunker.
What happened next went viral: She chipped out of trouble and parred the hole to raucous applause.
Their connection is longstanding now — Bockerstette on Tuesday shared a photo of the pair from this year’s practice round. Accompanying it were the words “Sweet 7 Years, Best Friend Ever!”
One of Woodland’s first calls when he won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach was to Bockerstette He told her via FaceTime that “I used your positive energy” to win his first major. He said Bockerstette even walked the front nine alongside him during Wednesday’s Phoenix Open Pro-Am.
“It’s always special to come here and see her,” he said. “She’s so positive, it’s nice to rub off on that energy.”
Woodland’s Pro-Am partner Wednesday was U.S. Women’s National Team soccer great Carli Lloyd, whom Woodland said had a good swing. It was National Women and Girls in Sports Day, too, making Woodland’s time with Bockerstette and Lloyd extra meaningful for the father of two daughters.
“I wish they were here today,” Woodland said of his girls, “just to meet (Lloyd) and just show them that anything’s possible. She’s one of the best soccer players of all time.”
‘My game’s in a good spot’
Woodland missed the cut at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open but was optimistic Wednesday about this weekend’s main event.
“There’s no doubt,” he said. “I feel like my game’s in a good spot. I just haven’t put it all together. It’s nice to come to a place to where I’ve done that and hopefully feed off that this week.”
One of the biggest lessons that Woodland learned during his recovery journey might help him return to the top of the leaderboard.
“Just take it easy on myself,” he said. “I’m pretty hard on myself. Realize that I am healing — realizing that bad days happen, not just to me — and realize that and go out and have a good week.”
Woodland will always have a resource in Self, too. He quipped that when the longtime basketball coach retires, it’s his goal to get him out to the Phoenix Open Pro-Am for a round.
For now, Self is busy coaching his Jayhawks. And as a proud KU alum, Woodland is fine with that.
“I’m excited for them,” Woodland said of KU basketball’s upward-trending hoops season. “They’re starting to click at the right time. It’s nice when (Darryn) Peterson’s healthy, but the guys have rallied around each other.”
Woodland finished his interview with a reference to Peterson’s epic performance against Texas Tech on Monday night. The freshman NBA prospect’s late-game heroics were nothing short of clutch in KU’s win.
“When he comes back and plays like he did the other night,” Woodland said, “big things are ahead.”
This story was originally published February 5, 2026 at 6:00 AM.
