Trophy great, but holding son far more special to Woodland
Wins Phoenix Open, celebrates moment with ‘miracle’ child
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Gary Woodland was surprised to see infant son Jaxson with wife Gabby late Sunday afternoon at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
“My wife kind of surprised me with him,” Woodland said. “I didn’t think he was going to be there. I thought it would just be her. For her to bring him out, that was special and something I’ll never forget.”
Jaxson was born prematurely in June after a twin girl was lost in a miscarriage. On Sunday at TPC Scottsdale, he was in his father’s arms at the trophy celebration after a playoff victory.
“For him to be here, it’s obviously a miracle,” Woodland said. “I’m just so excited to share this with him and my family. Hopefully, it’s the start of something special.”
Woodland beat Chez Reavie with a par on the first extra hole.
Playing three groups ahead of Reavie, Woodland birdied three of the last four holes for a 7-under 64 — the best round of the day — to finish at 18-under 266. He opened with rounds of 67, 68 and 67 after getting some advice from instructor Butch Harmon.
“Butch sent me a text Thursday morning before I played and said, ‘Forget about everything else, let’s just put four rounds together. Don’t worry about what you shoot, don’t worry about winning, just put four good rounds together,’ ” Woodland said. “I don’t know if that put me at ease or what, but I definitely put four good rounds together this week.”
Reavie, who got his lone victory at the 2008 Canadian Open, made a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th to force the PGA Tour’s fourth straight playoff and the event’s third overtime finish in a row.
“It’s right up there with the putt I made to win in Canada,” the 36-year-old former Arizona State player said. “It was a lot of fun. Fortunately, I walked up and I really got a good read off it right away.”
In the playoff on 18, Woodland hit short of the green from the left fairway bunker and chipped to 2 feet to set up his third PGA Tour victory and first since 2013.
“It’s been coming. We knew it the last month,” Woodland said. “And sure enough today it all clicked and I made some putts early, gave me some confidence and really hit the ball well coming down the stretch.”
Reavie missed the green left in the playoff and couldn’t get an 11-footer to fall.
“I carried the sign board here growing up when I was in high school and junior high and to have a chance to win the tournament this week was a lot of fun,” Reavie said.
The crowd was estimated at 64,273 for a record weeklong total of 719,179. On Saturday, 216,818 jammed the grounds, the biggest turnout in golf history.
“They were great,” said Reavie, who finished with a 66. “Being a hometown guy, everyone’s rooting me on.”
Ollie Schniederjans (65) and Brendan Steele (67) tied for third at 15 under.
Phil Mickelson had the fans roaring with three straight birdies, the second a 30-footer on 16. But, needing an eagle on 18 to tie Woodland, he drove left into the church pew bunker that Woodland hit into in the playoff and made double bogey. The 47-year-old Hall of Famer tied for fifth at 14 under after a 69.
At
Kuala Lumpur, Shubhankar Sharma of India closed with a 10-under 62 to win the Maybank Championship. Sharma, 21, finished at 21-under 267 to win by two strokes over Jorge Campillo of Spain, who closed with a 68.
At Barwon Heads, Australia, Minjee Lee of Australia shot a 6-under 67 for a five-stroke victory in the Vic Open, the first tournament of the year on the Ladies European Tour. Lee finished with a four-round total of 13-under 279, one better than Karis Davidson, who closed with a 71.
Cheyenne Woods, niece of Tiger Woods, shot 70 and finished eight strokes back in eighth place.
European PGA: Ladies European: