Former KU golfer Gary Woodland makes a big splash at Phoenix Open without even picking up a club

By Matt Tait     Jan 31, 2019

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Gary Woodland hits out of a bunker on the sixth green during the final round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Bellerive Country Club, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

If you’ve been paying any kind of attention at all during the past 5 or so years, you surely know by now that former Kansas golfer Gary Woodland currently is one of the best players in the world and that he also was a heck of a basketball player back at Washburn before transferring to KU.

But there’s so much more to Woodland, one of Kansas basketball’s most famous fans, than monster tee shots, birdie putts and pristine scorecards.

This week, the PGA Tour captured some of that magic from the player currently ranked 3rd in the FedEx Cup standings in a short video posted on the PGA web site and on Twitter. And Woodland did not even have to pick up a club to make it all happen.

The moment took place in Phoenix at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where Woodland and fellow pro Matt Kuchar welcomed “Amy” to join them on the famed 16th hole for a little fun and the memory of a lifetime.

The rest is in the video, which currently has 1.86 million views and counting, and is a wonderful look at how golf can bring together people from all walks of life.

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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.