Gary Woodland sits atop leaderboard after 2nd-round 69 at Wells Fargo Championship

By Matt Tait     May 7, 2021

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Gary Woodland hits from the 18th tee during the second round of the Memorial golf tournament, Friday, July 17, 2020, in Dublin, Ohio.

On a day when the three players who finished ahead of him in Thursday’s first round struggled, former University of Kansas golf standout Gary Woodland moved up to the top of the leaderboard at the Wells Fargo Championship.

[After finishing Round 1 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte in a tie for fourth place with a 4-under 67 on Thursday,][1] Woodland shot a 2-under 69 on Friday and finished the day in a three-way tie for first place with Matt Wallace and Patrick Rodgers, who shot 4-under and 3-under respectively on Friday.

Woodland fired two birdies and two bogeys in his opening nine holes on Friday and followed that up with two more birdies on his second nine.

In his first 36 holes at the event, Woodland recorded 10 birdies and four bogeys to go along with 22 pars.

First-round leader Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley, who shot one stroke better than Woodland on Thursday, both shot 4-over on Friday to fall down the leaderboard.

The Topeka native and former Jayhawk is looking for his best finish since tying for sixth at the Valero Open in early April.

He had missed the cut in four of his last seven events entering this week, including last week at Innisbrook, which, according to the Associated Press, inspired him to go back to working with his previous coaches, Butch Harmon and Pete Cowen.

The move helped Woodland’s game mentally and physically. He told the AP that his hip was not bothering him this week and his swing feels great.

Had it not been for him playing Nos. 16-18 in 3-over par through the first two rounds, Woodland might be in the lead all by himself. Still, he likes where he’s headed.

“I’ve seen some shots this week that I just haven’t seen in a long time,” he told the AP. “The golf swing feels so much better. Confidence has gone way up, which I did not have really in the last year. … It’s exciting right now.”

[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/tale-tait/2021/may/6/gary-woodlands-4-lands-him-among-leaders/

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.