Gary Woodland reacts after a missed putt on the eighth hole during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at The Country Club, Thursday, June 16, 2022, in Brookline, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Former University of Kansas golf standout Gary Woodland is still alive in this year’s FedEx Cup playoffs, thanks to a second-round 69 at the St. Jude Championship on Friday in Memphis.
After putting himself on the brink of elimination with back-to-back birdies at the first two holes on the back nine, Woodland survived the cut and advanced to the weekend with birdies at No. 13 and No. 15.
That gave him an even-par 35 on the back and he played Friday’s front nine one stroke under par after a birdie at No. 3 and pars on the other eight holes.
Woodland also shot a 69 during Thursday’s first round — two birdies, one bogey and 15 pars — to sit at 2-under for the under for the tournament.
Woodland finished his round nine strokes off the lead, but the chance to stick around for the weekend gives him an opportunity to move up and improve his standings entering next week’s second round of the FedEx playoffs.
Woodland, 38, has now made 11 cuts in 23 starts during the 2021-22 PGA Tour season. He has produced five top-10 finishes, seven top-25 finishes and entered the week just shy of $2 million in earnings for the season.
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.
