Woodland rides another hot streak to close Round 1 at the RBC Heritage

By Matt Tait     Jun 18, 2020

AP Photo/Gerry Broome
Gary Woodland follows his shot from the second tee, during the first round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament, Thursday, June 18, 2020, in Hilton Head Island, S.C.

After a slow start to his round on Thursday at the RBC Heritage golf tournament in Hilton Head Island, S.C., former University of Kansas golf standout Gary Woodland finished on a hot streak for the second week in a row.

After shooting a 2-over par 38 on the front nine, Woodland carded birdies on four consecutive holes (13-16) on the back nine on Thursday to finish at 4-under on the back and 2-under for the round.

Last week, during the opening round of the PGA Tour’s first event back from the pandemic-induced shutdown, Woodland birdied five of his final seven holes to put himself squarely in contention the rest of the week. That propelled him to a ninth-place finish and had him sitting in a tie for second place, one stroke back, heading into the final round.

Woodland opened Thursday with a birdie on No. 2 and then bogeyed three of the next six holes before straightening things out on the back nine.

The reigning U.S. Open champion enters Round 2 in a tie for 45th, five shots off the lead held by Ian Poulter and Mark Hubbard, who both shot 7-under to lead by a stroke over seven golfers at -6.

Woodland will get his second round under way bright and early on Friday, teeing off on No. 10 at 6:29 a.m. in a group with Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama.

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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.