Augusta’s green jackets are not particularly keen on bloated entourages blotting their fairways. At the Masters, only a player’s boiler-suited caddie can join him inside the ropes.
This week, however, an exception has been made for Gary Woodland. Somehow, the 2019 US Open champion made it back here despite a crippling health battle that has seen a lesion removed from his brain and post-traumatic stress disorder mess with his mind to the point where Woodland feared fans were trying to kill him.
So officials deployed an armed security guard to escort him around Augusta. He has hovered near the edge of every green and every fairway. He has walked with the world No 52 between every hole. On tight tee boxes, his caddy has ensured that either he or his bag stands between Woodland and the crowd.
It was back in 2023 that Woodland went under the knife. The lesion was causing seizures, anxiety and a fear of dying.
Surgeons cut a baseball-sized chunk out of his head but, when symptoms persisted, Woodland was told he had PTSD.
Earlier this week, the 41-year-old father of three shed more light on his struggles. ‘I’m in a battle,’ he said. On and off the course. ‘I don’t have control when this thing hits me.’
Gary Woodland was given extra, armed security at the Masters as he battles PTSD
The world No 52 recently admitted that he has battled fears that fans were trying to kill him
Woodland wobbled during his second round on Friday but is set to make the cut at Augusta
Anyone – a fan, a cameraman, an official – can startle him from behind and ‘trigger’ his PTSD. There have been times when Woodland wasn’t sure if – mentally – he could survive a tournament week. After winning the Texas Children’s Houston Open last month, he broke down in tears.
So it is testament to Woodland’s resolve and bravery that he even made it to Augusta. His wasn’t an especially cheery group here, given the frustrations of Scottie Scheffler and, in particular, Bob MacIntyre.
Woodland flirted with the cut line yesterday before ending his second round with a terrific birdie that should secure his spot for the weekend. A 75 left him on +2 for the tournament.
A few hours earlier, the putting green was baking under Georgia sunshine even before this group teed off shortly after 10am.
Dozens of fans surrounded Scheffler, Woodland and MacIntyre as they prepared for another day of rolling a ball around sheets of green glass.
Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott, watched on from a bench nearby – not far from a young girl and a stern-faced man in sunglasses and a thick jacket.
He was brutally overdressed for the conditions but didn’t let it show. He didn’t flinch at all until Woodland had decided enough was enough. Then, as the 2019 US Open champion started to walk through a tunnel of fans toward the first tee, the security guard leapt to his feet.
For the next five hours plus, he was Woodland’s shadow. Mercifully, he quickly ditched the jacket. But that served only to make him rather inconspicuous. A middle-aged man in a polo, chinos and a Masters cap? There are a few of those round here.
Last month, he was overcome with emotion after winning the Texas Children’s Houston Open
Crucially, though, Woodland knows where to look and, as he explained this week: ‘If I can see somebody, then I can remind myself that I’m safe.’
There were signs that this wasn’t another patron – the gun holstered to his hip and the extra magazine clipped to his waistline, for instance. It all helped soothe Woodland’s mind. But no one can take shots for the world No 52 and yesterday was a grind.
Starting the day at one-under-par, his second round included a visit to the water and, on the second, a trip to the wrong hole.
But supporters rallied around the American at every turn. He repaid them with smiles, fist bumps and high fives, his security detail never far from view.
