PGA Tour Veteran Still Fighting ‘PTSD’ From His Scary Brain Surgery Ordeal: ‘I’m on Medicine Indefinitely’

PGA Tour golfer Gary Woodland underwent surgery on September 18, 2023, to remove a lesion from his brain. Initially, he tried to heal it with medicines, but that wasn’t successful.

Despite all the setbacks, he decided to utilize his time off the course to map out a plan that would help him figure things out. He sat with the doctors and his team before he made a comeback. And well, for someone who just battled a brain tumor, it was an average year. Out of 26 events, he managed to make the cut in 15 of them and even bagged a T9 at the Shriners Children’s Open. And he wishes to only do better in 2025. He added, “Well, I’m on the medicine indefinitely now I’ve found out.”

Woodland added, “Now the days of me getting up in the morning and getting out of bed and just going about my life, those are over. The days of me just jumping in bed and going to sleep, that’s not how it works anymore.”  The 40-year-old has been working very hard to get his body back on track so that he can have a better life, and get out of his PTSD. Gary Woodland has brought about several positive changes in his routine in the past year.

He makes sure that he does breath work every morning and once again does it at night, as it helps him to slow down his brain so that he can be well rested. He also does this to give more stamina to the brain, so that it is prepared for simulation.

Gary Woodland has found his ray of hope

Having to play 26 events over 12 months is exhausting for a regular golfer. Imagine being someone who has had surgery a little more than a year ago. The golfer makes sure that he does not exceed the limits. He shuts down when he knows he is overstimulated. He now understands the importance of shutting down and is accepting his new reality.

“So being able to find ways to settle my brain down is a massive deal because now I have hope. After all, over the last couple of months, I’m starting to see signs and I’m starting — it’s a lot of work I have to do every day, but a lot of that work gives me hope because I can start to feel well again, and on top of that — yeah, initially it was like, this stinks because it’s over an hour a day of all this stuff I have to do to feel well, but now I’m like, wait for a second, I’m slowing my heart rate down, I’m slowing my thoughts down,” he said.

He believes this will help him become a better golfer, and that is what excites him. He even posted a very happy picture of him and his wife, Gaby Woodland, posing with their three children at Augusta National last year and expressed how much he loves spending time with his family. His new approach has allowed him to do that.

“I can handle the stimulation because I’m in a better place for it. That wasn’t the case a couple of months ago. So the last couple months for me has been exciting, and I’m as optimistic now about my future as I have been in years,” he concluded. Although the journey is a long way, he has been showing progress and that is what matters to him.