Former Jayhawk Gary Woodland battling at Quail Hollow
By Stan Unruh
Former Kansas golf standout Gary Woodland is battling in the PGA tour’s final major. He has a chance for a strong finish at Quail Hollow.
Many Kansas Jayhawk fans are following golf hero Gary Woodland in the year’s final major. The overall purse at this year’s PGA Championship is north of $10 million. Woodland can earn another nice payday if he can get the putter going. It is a difficult task. The competitors must match the speed and line so perfectly on the tough greens at Quail Hollow
I was excited to see Woodland in the top three after the opening round. His four birdies and lone bogey left him at 3 under par. I am biased but believe Woodland has the ability to win a major. He is crushing the ball and finding the fairways.
He got off to an outstanding start in Friday’s second round. His group of Andy Sullivan and Kyle Stanley opened on the almost 600-yard par 5 tenth. The Quail Hollow web site says it’s is the most difficult par 5 on the course. Woodland easily birdied the hole and briefly moved into second place on the leader board.
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That birdie was the highlight of the day. After some amazing play around the greens on Thursday, Woodland struggled some Friday. He settled for bogey on 3 of 5 holes that moved him out of the top ten. The weather delay certainly didn’t help him. He settled for bogey on the par 4 #8, his next to last hole of the day and finished ahead of the darkness at even par. If he gets his putter going, he has a chance to make some noise this weekend. We all hope he finishes stronger than at the Open Championship.