Gary Woodland, Amid PTSD Battle, Leads Houston Open; Brooks Koepka Misses Cut

Woodland fired rounds of 64-63, eyeing one of the more sentimental victories in recent memory, as Koepka's putting woes continued despite a recent stretch of strong finishes.

Gary Woodland will take a lead into the weekend at the Houston Open, where he'll be a fan favorite. | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

In the second round of the Houston Open, Gary Woodland had an “oops” on the par-4 13th, leading to a bogey. 

That didn’t halt his momentum, though. 

“I’ve hit it so well the last couple days,” Woodland said after his round. “I didn’t let that bother me. I told myself to forget about it and move on, and I was able to do that.”

Indeed. Woodland birdied his final three holes of the day for a 7-under 63, his lowest round on Tour since a final-round 62 last year at this same tournament. 

Now, Woodland, at 13 under, holds a four-stroke lead over defending champion Min Woo Lee. 

If Woodland can hold on, it’d be one of the more sentimental victories in recent memory. The 2019 U.S. Open champion underwent a procedure to remove a lesion on his brain in September 2023 and returned to golf the following January. It’s been a struggle, however, on and off the course. Two weeks ago, Woodland, in an emotional interview with Golf Channel, revealed he’s been dealing with PTSD in the aftermath of his cancer. 

The 41-year-old opened the 2026 season by missing four of six cuts, but has seen signs of progress, highlighted by a T14 at last week’s Valspar Championship. Perhaps that’s because he knocked a lot of weight off his shoulders.

“I literally feel like I got a thousand pounds off my back that day,” Woodland said of his Golf Channel interview after his first-round 64 in Houston. “It was hard to do. I was crying going into the interview and I left feeling a thousand pounds lighter. I have a battle that I’m fighting, but it’s nice to not do that alone, I can tell you that.”

But that’s not the only reason he’s contending at Memorial Park. He recently made an equipment change, switching iron shafts. 

Have a day, @GaryWoodland 👏

5-under thru 12 @TCHouOpen pic.twitter.com/r2x6fQ1N6P

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 27, 2026

“I've got lot of confidence in those shafts,” he said. “It was hard for me to get out of them because I played them for so long and had a lot of success, but with my speed the way it is right now, I need that extra stiff, that extra boardy feel in there. It’s allowing me to work the golf ball again and control it more than anything, control the spin, so it's been really good.”

Of course, not everyone in the 135-player field had the same success as Woodland. And the most notable name to miss the cut is Brooks Koepka. 

Five starts into his return to the PGA Tour after leaving LIV Golf, the five-time major champion was coming off three consecutive top 20 finishes, feeling his game was rounding into form. 

“I feel very good, very confident going into Augusta in a few weeks,” Koepka said in his pre-tournament press conference Wednesday. 

Things went south, though, on the course in which served as a player consultant during its 2019 redesign, shooting 75-69 to miss the cut at 4 over par. 

The main reason? Putting. 

Entering this week, the 35-year-old was first on Tour in strokes-gained approach, but was 127th in strokes-gained putting. Koepka’s results have improved since switching to TaylorMade Spider mallet putter; however, that wasn’t the case in Houston. He lost over three strokes on the greens. 

So now, he’ll look to bounce back at the Masters, where Koepka has two runner-ups (2019, 2023), a T7 (2020) and three missed cuts (2021, 2022, 2025). 

Woodland, meanwhile, will play another 36 holes this week as a heavy fan favorite. 

“I’ve had a lot of support,” he said. “Kind of feel like I'm playing at home. The fans have been amazing. I kind of need that energy to help me through the day, that definitely helps. That’s something hopefully I can ride on this weekend, as well.”

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