Nobody shot a better final round at the 2019 PGA Championship than former Kansas golfer Gary Woodland on Sunday.
And as a result, the former Jayhawk and Topeka native carded his second ever Top 10 finish at one of golf’s major tournaments.
Woodland, who finished at +1 for the four-round tournament at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y., shot a two-under-par 68 on Sunday to move up from 39th into a tie for 8th.
The difference in terms of prize money was more than $200,000 and Woodland’s 8th-place finish netted him a total prize of $266,062.
Beau Hossler, who finished tied for 36th at +6 for the tournament, was the only other golfer in the 82-man field to shoot 2-under par on Sunday.
In all, only 11 players finished under par during the final round on a tough-weather day at Bethpage.
Winner Brooks Koepka, who brought home $1.98 million after winning his second consecutive PGA Championship, shot +4 in the final round to finish at -8 for the tournament, winning by two shots over runner-up Dustin Johnson, one of the nine other players to shoot 1-under on Sunday.
Woodland’s final round was indicative of the tough conditions on Sunday.
He birdied four holes on the front nine but also carded bogeys at No. 7 and No. 9 and a double-bogey at the Par-3 third hole to finish with an even-par 35 on the front nine.
After bogeying No. 11 to move to +1 for the day, Woodland birdied four of the next five holes before parring the final two to fire a 33 on the back nine and a 68 for the round.
Woodland’s 8th-place finish was his seventh Top 10 of the season, in 16 starts, and the 36th of his PGA Tour career.
Woodland finished in a tie for 32nd at The Masters last month and has two more cracks this season — the U.S. Open, June 13-16 at Pebble Beach, and the British Open, July 18-21, at Dunluce Course in Northern Ireland — at chasing down his first major championship.
The former KU standout who has three career PGA Tour victories to his name, entered the week ranked No. 9 in the FedEx Cup standings and moved up to No. 8 after his strong finish on Sunday.
Fellow Jayhawk Ryan Vermeer, the 41-year-old PGA Director of Instruction at Happy Hollow Club in Omaha, Neb., shot a 79 on Sunday to finish +15 for the tournament in a tie for 80th place.