Gary Woodland finishes 5th at Wells Fargo Championship

By Matt Tait     May 9, 2021

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Gary Woodland tees off on the fourth hole during the fourth round of the Wells Fargo Championship golf tournament at Quail Hollow on Sunday, May 9, 2021, in Charlotte, N.C.

Despite taking the lead into the back nine at Sunday’s final round of the Wells Fargo Championship, former University of Kansas golf standout Gary Woodland came up just short in his bid for another PGA Tour victory.

Woodland, who shot an even-par 71 on Sunday, finished the tournament at 7-under, three strokes behind winner Rory McIlroy and in fifth place all by himself.

Abraham Ancer (-9) took second and Viktor Hovland and Keith Mitchell tied for third at -8.

The top-five finish was the best of Woodland’s 2021 season to date and netted him $332,100 in prize money.

After starting the day two strokes behind Mitchell and in a second-place tie with McIlroy, Woodland climbed back to the top of the leaderboard with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 7 and 8 on the front nine.

He finished the front at Quail Hollow Club 2-under par but gave both strokes back on the back nine with back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 12 and 13.

Even though he remained within striking distance of the lead throughout the rest of the round, the hiccup knocked Woodland out of contention as the leaders never gave up any ground from there.

McIlroy, who finished at 10-under for the tournament, won for the first time in 18 months. It marked his 19th career PGA Tour victory.

This week’s finish was Woodland’s 12th top-20 showing and eighth in the top 10, in the two years since winning the 2019 U.S. Open, his first major championship win and the first by a Jayhawk.

The next stop on the PGA Tour is the AT&T Byron Nelson May 13-16 in McKinney, Texas.

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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.