USA TODAY International Edition
Story behind viral moment
Champion Woodland inspired by Bockerstette
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Amy Bockerstette doesn’t watch much golf on television. Or she didn’t at least until Gary Woodland took control of the 119th U.S. Open.
“The minute we found out that Gary was near the leaderboard,” said her father, Joe, “Amy got engaged and she wouldn’t leave the TV after that for two days.”
Not surprisingly, Amy yelled “Go Gary, you got this!” all day long from her spot on the couch in the home of Paul and Michelle Tesori.
When Woodland claimed his first major championship title at Pebble Beach on Sunday evening, it felt like a member of the Bockerstette family had won.
Amy and Woodland developed a friendship after appearing together in a viral video this year at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. It was more than a meet-and-greet set up by the Special Olympics and PGA Tour. Amy, who has Down syndrome, played the famed 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale alongside Woodland and made the world’s greatest par from the greenside bunker.
The video has more than 5 million views.
“It’s like these events will be linked in eternity now,” Joe said. “Who knew back in the last week of January how those 21⁄2 minutes would impact our lives?”
Woodland heaped praise on Bockerstette in his champion’s news conference.
“She’s meant everything for me from a mental standpoint,” he said. “The world needs more of her in it. Her attitude, her love for life, love for the game and her positive energy is so contagious. And I’ve had the pleasure to continue to speak with her. She sent me a nice video when I got sick and had to pull out of Wells Fargo. She sent me an amazing birthday video, singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me. She’s a special girl, special parents, and it’s nice to call her a friend.”
They also spoke with each other afterward.
Sunday on Father’s Day, Woodland said he wants to teach his own kids — he has a son, Jaxson, and his wife is pregnant with identical twin girls — that positive energy like Amy’s is contagious. Life will be full of ups and downs, he said, and the only thing you can control is your attitude.
“Amy told me a million times when we were on that hole, ‘I’ve got this, I’ve got this,’ ” Woodland said. “And I told myself that a million times today, ‘I’ve got this.’ ”
And he did. Just like Amy.