Gary Woodland shot 3-under-par 67 in the final round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open to win on the PGA Tour for the first time in nearly seven years Sunday.
Woodland finished at 21-under 259 for four rounds at Memorial Park Golf Course, where he shared second place last year.
Woodland won by five strokes over Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard, who carded 71 for the final round.
It’s Woodland’s fifth victory on the PGA Tour, but first since the 2019 U.S. Open — and his first since undergoing brain surgery to remove a tumor in 2023.
Woodland went 4 under on the front side, boosted by consecutive birdies on Nos. 7-9, to build a six-stroke advantage. When Hojgaard bogeyed No. 10, the margin moved to seven shots.
Johnny Keefer shot 64 to rise to a third-place tie at 15 under with defending champion Min Woo Lee of Australia (67). Sam Stevens (67) was fifth at 14 under.
Jake Knapp made a huge jump with bogey-free 62, finishing his round by the time the final group was wrapping up the front side. His 43-foot eagle putt on the par-5 16th was among the highlights.
Knapp, Chris Gotterup (65), Australia’s Jason Day (68) and Canada’s Sudarshan Yellamaraju (67) all were at 13 under and tied for sixth.
It was a disappointing result from Michael Thorbjornsen, who was in position prior to the round to rise into a high enough spot to qualify for next month’s Masters.
Thorbjornsen, needing to move from No. 56 in the world rankings to the top 50, was seeking to tie for fifth or better. Instead, he had a double bogey on No. 8 and three bogeys during a four-hole stretch on the back nine to finish with 72. He tied for 14th at 10 under.
–Field Level Media
