Strong finish eludes Woodland

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jun 23, 2009 by Brent Maycock

By Brent Maycock

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Judging from the scores in his final two rounds, some might consider it a bit of a lost weekend for Gary Woodland at the 109th U.S. Open at Bethpage Black.

Woodland entered the last two rounds tied for 12th at 1-under before back-to-back rounds of 76 and 77 plummeted the Topeka native to a 12-over 292 for the tournament and a tie for 47th.

While the finish wasn't exactly what Woodland had hoped and positioned himself for, it still was an invaluable experience in his major debut.

"It was unfortunate, but I'll take a lot from the weekend," Woodland said during a phone interview while en route to this week's PGA Tour stop, the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn. "I played strong and it was the first major I played in. I put myself in contention and, unfortunately, it dwindled away. It will be the first of many."

The weather-delayed Open took its toll on many golfers and Woodland was certainly one of them. Playing with an inflamed rotator cuff in his left shoulder, the stop-and-go nature of play at this year's Open made it even tougher to fight through the injury.

The scores indicate as much. When fresh in rounds one and two, Woodland thrived.

He posted a 3-over 73 in his first round Friday, then returned to the course that afternoon and played 14 holes in 4-under.

On Saturday, he got to play just five holes, finishing his second round 66 before waiting to tee off among the leaders later in the day. He got in just one hole -- a par -- before rain halted play again.

On Sunday, Woodland played 24 holes and couldn't battle through it. He had a stretch of five bogeys in six holes in a third-round 76 and then bogeyed his first three holes of his final round. He completed that round Monday, suffering a quadruple bogey 8 on No. 5 en route to the closing 77.

"It just caught up with me," Woodland said. "I was playing good, but warming up twice a day -- I warm up for an hour to get my game where I need it to -- playing four holes and then stopping and relaxing halfway through the day before getting going again, it just came to the point where it gave out on me.

"I was fighting as hard as I could to hang in there, but your body only gives you so much."

In particular, the injury took away the one major weapon Woodland had for this major -- his driver.

"Every time I hit driver, I couldn't get around on it," Woodland said. "The last few holes, I was aiming so far left just to try and keep it in play."

Despite the finish, Woodland was encouraged by his performance.

"I was putting it well enough to make birdies, all I had to do was give myself opportunities," said Woodland, who made six birdies and an eagle in his first two rounds but just two birdies in his last two rounds. "The opportunities just dwindled down the stretch.

"One of the toughest golf course in the United States, it's our toughest tournament of the year, tightest fairways, toughest mental test, everything you want to put into it and I put myself in contention. I know I can do it and that's what I'll take from it. It's a matter of I know when I play well, I can take care of business."