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Former Kansas Golfer Gary Woodland Returns to 2026 Masters: Tee Times, Betting Odds, and Storyline

Kansas golf legend Gary Woodland returns to the 2026 Masters following his recent emotional win at the Houston Open.
Dillon Davis|
Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Former Kansas golfer and KU Athletics Hall of Famer Gary Woodland is back at golf’s biggest annual event as the 2026 Masters Tournament gets underway today at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

Woodland is making his first appearance at the Masters in two years after failing to reach the tournament in 2025. In his last showing in 2024, Woodland struggled to find his swing and missed the cut with a final score of 13-over par.

Woodland has finished in the top 20 at the Master three times over his last 10 appearances. His best finish came just three years ago in 2023 when he finished tied for 14th at 3-under.

Storyline

Woodland enters the Masters coming off of an inspiring win at the Houston Open just 11 days ago. He’s talked about that victory a lot this week and what it meant for him personally.

"Winning the U.S. Open in '19 had the biggest impact on my life from a golf standpoint,” Woodland said. “I hope winning in Houston had a bigger impact in somebody else's life."

Woodland won the Houston Open after finishing 21-under par. It was easily the best performance of his career since the win at the U.S. Open in 2019 where he finished 22-under.

He’s become a fan favorite in the golf world recently after sharing his struggles with PTSD and how he’s been able to overcome that and make his return to professional golf. It’s been one of the best stories in sports so far this year, and he will likely have a lot of support in the crowd this weekend at Augusta.

Tee Time

Woodland will tee off from the first tee at 12:44 p.m. CT Thursday. He is paired with arguably the best in the sport, Scottie Scheffler, and Robert MacIntyre.

The group will tee off at 9:19 a.m. ET on Friday from the 10th tee.

Early coverage of the Masters will be shown on Prime Video (12-2 p.m. CT) followed by TV coverage on ESPN (2-6:30 p.m. CT). Live streaming is also available on Masters.com.

Betting Odds

Woodland is considered a longshot to win this year’s Masters with current odds sitting at +12500 on FanDuel and +13500 on DraftKings.

His odds to finish top 5 (including ties) are +2500 on FanDuel and +1600 on DraftKings. His odds to finish top 10 (including ties) are +1100 on FanDuel and +640 on DraftKings.

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Dillon Davis
DILLON DAVIS

Being a Kansas Jayhawks fan was never a choice for me. I grew up in Topeka, Kansas, surrounded by a family full of Jayhawks. I was even born during a Kansas basketball NCAA Tournament game, so I guess you could say it was fate for me to be a Jayhawk too. When it came time for me to go to college, there was only one place I applied and only one place I wanted to go – KU. I've since turned that passion into sports writing. I've written about KU sports for more than seven years and produced hundreds of KU news articles in that time. I love storytelling, I love KU and I love interacting with my fellow Jayhawks. Rock Chalk!

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