Things are going pretty well for Gary Woodland. The 34-year-old has finished in the top 12 in seven of his last eight starts, finished runner-up at last week’s Tournament of Champions and ascended to a career-best No. 22 in the world. That means the golf world is getting exposed to more of Woodland’s shotmaking — and that’s a good thing for all.
During Friday’s second round at the Sony Open, Woodland sat just inside the cut line as he played the par-5 18th. After finding the fairway with his 3-wood, he faced a 239-yard approach shot to a front pin. That was an in-between yardage for the notorious bomber, which led to a particularly neat bit of iron play: Woodland hit a punch shot that buzzed the ground, landed two-thirds of the way to the hole and rolled up the fairway and onto the green. But don’t take my word for it; this is a shot you should see for yourself. Especially that second view.
This is incredible from @GaryWoodland.
Just wait for the second angle. 😲😲😲 pic.twitter.com/ElZOheHsE3
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 12, 2019
On a day when Chez Reavie holed out three times (three times!) from outside 100 yards, it was tough to compete for shot of the day — but you’ll notice he even fooled the cameraman. Feel free to watch this on loop:
Woodland missed the eagle try but cleaned up his birdie. He sits at three under and T46 entering Saturday’s round.