Woodland First PGA Win at Transitions

Gary Woodland 2011 Transitions winner

Gary Woodland only started serious golf competition eight years ago, was so wild in the finishing holes on Sunday that he didn't make a single par on the back nine until the last hole, where he made a 10-foot par putt that proved to be the difference in a one-shot victory over Webb Simpson.

"I can't come out here and hit the golf ball 900 yards and win," said Woodland, exaggerating only slightly. "I was very conservative this week, laid back almost all day -- all four days -- and just tried to get the ball in the fairway, get it on the green and let the putter do the work. That's what I'm learning."

The final par -- his only par on a back nine that featured five birdies and three bogeys -- gave Woodland a 4-under 67 and his first trip to Augusta National for the Masters.

Simpson also flew long on the 18th green and faced the same scary shot as Woodland in the group ahead. He off the back of the green, chipped 20 feet by the hole and the par putt was the only bad stroke he made all day. The bogey gave him a 69 and a runner-up finish in an otherwise solid performance for his first time in serious contention.

"I just didn't hit a very good second shot," Simpson said.

Woodland took only 23 putts in the final round -- 10 on the back nine. According to the ShotLink data, he didn't miss a single putt inside 20 feet in the final round, with four of those 17 putts outside 10 feet.

Woodland, who played college basketball at Washburn until deciding to transfer to Kansas to play golf, became the first player to earn his inaugural PGA TOUR title at Innisbrook.

The win gives Woodland an invitation to Augusta National, where his awesome power and soft putting touch could make for an interesting marriage at the Masters. A late-bloomer, Woodland missed the second half of his rookie season two years ago with shoulder surgery, but began to show his potential when he lost in a playoff at the Bob Hope Classic.

Woodland finished at 15-under 269 and earned $990,000, moving up to No. 3 in the FedExCup standings.

"One thing that helped me was putting, and today it saved me," Woodland said. "Luckily, it won me a golf tournament."

Scott Stallings, a PGA TOUR rookie who missed every cut on the West Coast Swing to fall to the bottom of the status ladder, kept his poise and stayed in the game until the 16th, the toughest driving hole on the Copperhead course with trees to the left and water to the right. Stallings went right into the lake and made double bogey.

Even so, he shot a 70 and finished alone in third, which gets him in the Shell Houston Open in two weeks.

"A sponsor exemption changed my year, and I can't thank Transitions enough," Stallings said. "Without them giving me an opportunity to play, there's no way I would have been here. One good tournament completely changed my year."

Brandt Snedeker finished fourth.

Justin Rose, a two-time winner last year who started the final round with a one-shot lead, was tied for the lead until making four straight bogeys through the 10th hole to fall out of contention. He wound up five shots behind.

Nick Watney, coming off a World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship title at Doral last week, played with Woodland and fell out of the mix quickly by failing to make putts. Watney didn't make a birdie and closed with a 72 and tied for 13th, the first time Watney has been out of the top 10 all year. That means his two-month bet with caddie Chad Reynolds is over, and both can now get a hair cut.

Martin Kaymer, the world No. 1, closed with a 69 to tie for 20th.

Woodland played conservatively around the Copperhead course, usually hitting 2-iron off the tee. He hit one shot 337 yards uphill on one of the few holes he used driver, leading to a birdie.

Another driver didn't work out so well. He came out of his swing on the par-5 11th, and the ball went over and through the trees before settling in light rough between the tee and green on the 17th. He could only pitch a wedge to the 17th tee, and he had to scramble for bogey. Woodland followed with three straight birdies, the last one a 12-footer from the fringe on the 14th to take the lead.

Then came a flubbed chip on the 15th, and a bad bunker shot on the 16th, two bogeys to fall one shot behind. Woodland came up with another clutch putt on the 17th for birdie from 15 feet, setting up the biggest putt of them all.

Woodland was No. 153 in the world ranking, making him the ninth PGA Tour winner to be ranked 100th or lower.

He becomes the latest pure athlete to make an impression on the PGA TOUR, cut out of the mold of Dustin Johnson. The difference is that Woodland still lacks polish. His only national competition was as a shortstop in baseball and a point guard in basketball. He originally turned down a golf scholarship at Kansas to play basketball at Division II Washburn.

In his first game, he scored three points in Allen Fieldhouse against the Jayhawks, and figured he better try golf.

Midway through his first year on tour in 2009, he had shoulder surgery, which turned out to be the best thing for him.

"I was athletic, but I didn't know what I was doing out here," he said. "I got hurt, and I had to step back and really figure out how to play this game. And I'm starting to figure that out right now."

Transitions Championship Result

Willis and Couch Lead Transitions

Sergio Garcia

Padraig Harrington carded a one under par round of 70 at the Transitions Championship on Friday with the only dropped shot on the par ninth at the Copperhead course to finish on a two day total of 143 - and two shots outside the cut at Innisbrook. 


The real problem for the Dubliner was the pace being set at the top of the leader board - rounds of 67 and 64 - making  Harrington's opening round of 73 the difference in the end.


Garrett Willis and Chris Couch were tied for the lead when another gorgeous day at Innisbrook ended. Willis had a 4-under 67 in the still of the morning to put his name atop the leaderboard for the second straight year -- this time on a Friday, not a Thursday. 

Couch had a 64 in the afternoon as the breeze began to stir, making a par from the trees on the 18th to tie for the lead.Even so, it was tough to ignore the name one stroke behind them.

Sergio Garcia is not thinking about winning, which is becoming tougher to do with each bogey-free round at the Transitions Championship.

Although his enthusiasm waned so much last year that he decided to take a 10-week break from competition and this is his first time playing in America in seven months.

The 31-year-old Spaniard looked moderately disgusted when birdie putts turned away and he produced a fist pump normally saved for a Sunday when he holed a chip for birdie from behind the 13th green.

About the only thing that went wrong in his round of 66 was when he felt something on the back of his cap as he walked off the 14th tee early in his round. Turns out it was a bee that stung him on his middle finger, although he got the stinger out and all was well.

A par save on the final hole felt even better.

"Just keep trying to do the right things and see what we finish," he said. "I'm not worried about winning. I just want to keep building confidence into my head, and these rounds obviously help. If we go out there tomorrow and shoot another round, beautiful. If not, that's fine. I've just got to make sure that I keep building up."

Willis and Couch were at 9-under 133, one shot clear of Garcia and Webb Simpson, who had a 67 in the afternoon.Paul Casey, who led after the first round, had to settle for a 71 and was two shots behind along with Justin Rose(65) and Gary Woodland (68).

Innisbrook is one of the toughest tracks in Florida, although it was vulnerable in such ideal weather. It's not so much the number of players who produced low scores, rather the high scores that were absent.

As a result, the cut of 1-under 141 was the lowest in tournament history. Going into the weekend, only eight shots separate first from worst, a rarity on the PGA TOUR.

Willis is making his own kind of progress.

A year ago, Willis opened with a 65 to take the first-round lead, then followed that with a 77 and missed the 54-hole cut. He followed his opening 66 with a solid 67 Friday to finish his round atop the leaderboard.

"It's a lot cooler to lead after the second round than it is the first round," Willis said.

Willis lives about 30 minutes away, and the biggest surprise was not seeing his name on the leaderboard, but not seeing the trees sway.

"To have two days like this -- this calm -- is crazy," Willis said. "I think we're in for a pretty windy weekend, because there's no way it's going to continue."

Couch has missed the better part of two years with a shoulder injury, and he wears bracelets to help with his blood flow -- a couple on each side, figuring he needs all the help he can get with his bad health.

The game rarely looked better.

Couch shot a 29 on the back nine of the Copperhead course, and even his shot into the trees left of the 18th fairway was not a problem. In fact, he hit out of the trees to about 10 feet and had to settle for par.

"I feel like I'm good enough to win," he said.

Along with being tied for the lead, he was equally thrilled that he plays Saturday with Willis, a close friend and frequent practice partner. They practiced together earlier this week, but this time there will be a little more at stake.

Even so, the field is as bunched as ever.

Brandt Snedeker, in his first tournament since becoming a father, had a 64 to lead a group at 6-under 136 that included 17-year-old Matteo Manassero, two-time PGA TOUR winner Mark Wilson and Peter Hanson, who had a peculiar day with the putter.

Another shot back was a group that included a trio of U.S. Open champions -- Geoff Ogilvy, Lucas Glover and defending champion Jim Furyk -- while U.S. Amateur champion Peter Uihlein made 14 pars in his round of 69 and was at 3-under 139.

Uihlein holed out a 40-yard bunker shot on No. 5 for eagle, then holed out from the fairway for eagle on No. 7. He had two bogeys coming in, but easily made the cut in his second PGA TOUR start.

Hanson would not have thought a 67 was in the cards today.

"Other than the four-putt on my first hole, I made a lot of nice birdies," he said.

He had about 25 feet for birdie on the 10th hole and left it 4 feet short. He rammed his par putt about 4 feet by the cup, and missed the next one coming back. Hanson was so frustrated that he decided to change to a cross-handed grip for his fourth putt. That went in, so he stuck with it. After that four-putt double bogey, he took only four putts over the next five holes.

John Daly also failed to make it to the weekend for the fifth time in six tournaments this year.

Transitions Championship leader board