Gary Woodland’s wife was right when she said, “This is like a career ruiner.” She was alluding to the unfortunate brain tumor that her husband was diagnosed with back in 2023. Although the pro underwent surgery last year, his comeback to the men’s circuit in 2024 has been anything but notable, that is until his recent Shriners Children’s Open finish. But was that enough to ensure a PGA Tour card for the upcoming season?

The golfer is currently placed at the 137th position on the FedEx Cup Fall standings. As per the rules of the PGA Tour, only the top 125 in the rankings receive a card to earn an exemption into the regular season in 2025. Unfortunately, Woodland, as of now, is not eligible for the same. But he will be if he manages to finish inside the top 125 by the end of the FedEx Fall events—at the RSM Classic, to be more precise.

But there’s a twist. Gary Woodland had, back in 2019, emerged victorious at one of the major championships, the U.S. Open. As a result of that win, he earned a 10-year exemption into the prestigious event, as usual. However, the same cannot be said for the PGA Tour card and the rest of the events.

A U.S. Open win provides an exemption into the next 5 editions of the PLAYERS Championship. Consequently, Woodland will be able to tee off at the upcoming tournament at TPC Sawgrass in 2025, since it wasn’t played in 2020 due to COVID-19. But this won’t be the case for his 5-year PGA Tour exemption, which ended in 2024.

As unfortunate as it may seem, he will need to perform his best in the upcoming tournaments to climb the FedEx Cup Fall rankings and earn a card for the next season. On the bright side, he does seem to be on the right path, thanks to his T16 finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship and his recent T9 placement at the Shriners Children’s Open, both of which he achieved despite the surgery he had for the brain tumor back in 2023.

What had happened to Gary Woodland?

It was the 2023 Wyndham Championship. Woodland had just finished T27 at the PGA Tour event. Little did the golfer know that he would be diagnosed with a brain tumor soon after, causing him to take a break from the sport. As medicines weren’t enough to treat it, the athlete decided to undergo surgery in August, scheduling it for the month of September.

The PGA Tour Pro’s team, on September 19, announced the success of the surgery, after which he was forced to rest to make a complete recovery. Fast forward to the start of the 2024 PGA Tour season in January, and the pro decided to tee off at the Sony Open in Hawaii that took place in Waialae Country Club, Honolulu. “This journey has been very hard but I’m extremely thankful to be progressing and for the unconditional love and support from everyone,” said Woodland while recounting his road to recovery.

The year hasn’t been kind to the PGA Tour pro, as he has only managed to finish inside the top 10 once. That top-10 finish came at the recently concluded tournament at TPC Summerlin. Gary Woodland certainly has a long way to go if he is to make a proper comeback on the men’s circuit. Fingers crossed for the golfer!