Gary Woodland: 2019 U.S. Open champion

By
Mo Yoshimoto,

By
Mo Yoshimoto

Published June 17, 2019 09:39 AM

119^th U.S. Open

Pebble Beach, CA

Playing out of the final twosome, second- and third-round leader and World No. 25 Gary Woodland styled a 2-under-par 34-35=69 in Sunday’s final round at Pebble Beach Golf Links for a 72-hole total of 13-under 271, good for a three-shot win over runner-up, two-time defending champion, and four-time major winner Brooks Koepka (68), and his first major title in his 31^st major appearance.

Four players shared 3^rd place, six adrift: Xander Schauffele (67); Jon Rahm (68); Chez Reavie (71); and first-round leader, 2013 U.S. Open winner and playing competitor Justin Rose (74).

The 35-year-old, a pre-tourney 80/1 outright, claims his fourth TOUR win in 245 events, first since the 2018 WM Phoenix Open 38 starts ago (playoff win over fellow Kansas native Reavie), where he closed with a day- and week-tying low 64 (9 birdies, 2 bogeys) and won with par on the first extra hole.

Note: Three of Woodland’s four wins have come west of the Mississippi.

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This was his ninth U.S. Open and second top 25, brushing aside a previous-best T23 in 2011 (Congressional).

Overall, the Kansas alum records his third top 10 in majors, three in his last four, bettering a T6 at the 2018 PGA as the 18- and 36-hole leader (won by Koepka).

This was the sixth U.S. Open contested at Pebble Beach and Woodland’s second, missing the cut by three in 2010, and his 271 clips the previous-best mark of 272 by 2000 winner Tiger Woods.

He played in four AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Ams, missing three cuts. The Florida resident’s one cash was T5 in 2017, highlighted by a day- and week-tying-low 65 (10 birdies, 3 bogeys) out of the ninth-to-last twosome. The 10 birdies were a career most in a-then 610 career rounds on TOUR.

Final Leaderboard (pre-tourney odds outright):

1- (-13, 271) Gary Woodland (80/1)

2- (-10, 274) Brooks Koepka (9/1)

3- (-7, 277) Xander Schauffele (25/1)

3- (-7, 277) Jon Rahm (28/1)

3- (-7, 277) Chez Reavie (300/1)

3- (-7, 277) Justin Rose (28/1)

Note: Repeat top-10 finishers from last year: 4 players: Brooks Koepka (2-1-1); Xander Schauffele (3-6-5); Justin Rose (3-10); Henrik Stenson (9-6)

Woodland’s Position by Round:

R1: T8 (3 back)

R2: 1 (by 2)

R3: 1 (by 1)

Woodland in Majors:

Starts: 31

Cuts Made: 22 (74.1%)

WD: 1 (3.2%)

Consecutive Cuts Made: 6

Top 25s: 8 (25.8%)

Top 10s: 3 (9.6%)

Wins: 1 (3.2%)

Major Form: 1-8-32-6-67

How Woodland Won the Tournament:

Ranked 1^st (or T1) in: Total Bogeys; No Double Bogeys or Worse; Birdie to Bogey Ratio; Par-4 Scoring; Scrambling; 3-putt avoidance; All-Around

Ranked 2^nd (or T2) in: Greens in Regulation

Note: See “Strokes Gained Leaders Stats” at the bottom, along with his full stats.

Least Important Stat(s): None, really. If you reach, perhaps T22 in Driving Accuracy, and T19 in Total Putts.

After opening with 68-65-69, Woodland began with a one-shot lead over Rose.

He landed 10 (of 14) fairways and 15 greens in regulation, taking 31 total putts.

OUT: 1-under 34 (2 birdies, 1 bogey); Woodland leads by 2 (over Rose, Koepka)

IN: 1-under 35 (2 birdies, 1 bogey); Woodland WINS by 3 (over Koepka)

In total, he squared two bogeys at holes 9 and 12, outflanked by four circles at 2, 3, 14 and 18, punctuated by a 30-foot, walk-off birdie-4. For the week, Woodland tallied 17 birdies against just four bogeys, No. 1 in the latter. The four bogeys also matched a U.S. Open record for least bogeys.

He improves to 17-for-18 on the season with 10 top 25s and eight top 10s, four of those top 5s, including runners-up at the Sentry TOC (won by Schauffele), and THE CJ CUP (won by Marc Leishman), both of those as a 54-hole leader or co-leader.

Woodland’s Season:

Starts: 18

Cuts Made: 17

Top 25s: 10

Top 10s: 8

Top 3s: 3

Wins: 1

Season Form (last 16 weeks): 1-52-8-WD-32-17-MC-30-36-17

Note: Woodland arrived off a T52 at the Memorial two weeks ago, preceded by a T8 at the PGA Championship, and a WD (illness) at the Wells Fargo after R3, T70 at the time on 4-over 217.

Season Form (first 20 weeks): 7-9-80-2-41-10-2-5

Note: Six of Woodland’s eight top 10s this season came in his first eight starts.

By the Numbers:

1: One player has finished in the top 10 in each of the season’s first three majors: Brooks Koepka (2-1-2).

0: Consecutive top 10s at Pebble Beach GL (from 2019 U.S. Open and 2010 U.S. Open).

3: Woodland missed the cut by three at the 2010 U.S. Open on 10-over 152 (76-76).

0: Consecutive top 10s at Pebble Beach (from 2019 and 2000 U.S. Open).

10: Tiger Woods won the 2000 edition by 15 shots, a major record for margin of victory, with a 12-under 272 aggregate. He was 10 shots worse this time around, finishing T21 on 2-under 282 (70-72-71-69).

0: Top 10s at both the 2019 U.S. Open and the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

1: Top 10s at both the 2019 U.S. Open and the 2018 AT&T Pro-Am: Chez Reavie (3-2).

2: Top 10s at both the 2019 U.S. Open and the 2017 AT&T Pro-Am: Gary Woodland (1-5); Jon Rahm (3-5).

2: Top 10s at both the 2019 U.S. Open and the 2016 AT&T Pro-Am: Brooks Koepka (2-8); Justin Rose (3-6).

6: Woodland snaps a streak of six straight Nike-clad major winners.

4: Americans have now won the last four majors and nine of the last 10.

4: Prior to Woodland, the last four major winners all checked in off a top-5 finish in their previous start. Woodland arrived off a T52 two weeks ago at the Memorial (69-71-74-75).

5: With the win, Woodland earns a 5-year exemption on TOUR.

1: This was Woodland’s first 54-hole lead/co-lead in 31 major appearances.

2: This was Woodland’s second 36-hole lead/co-lead in majors. At last season’s PGA (Bellerive), he was the outright leader by one (64-66), before finishing T6 with 71-69, six adrift of champion Koepka.

4: Woodland recorded four rounds in the 60s this week. In his previous 26 rounds at the U.S. Open, he recorded just three: A 69 in R2 last year, a 68 in R4 in 2011, and a 66 in R2 on debut in 2009.

2: Two players recorded all four rounds in the 60s: Woodland and Koepka.

5: Dating to last year’s edition, Koepka has now recorded five straight rounds in the 60s at the U.S. Open, six in his last seven, and 11 of his last 13.

2/1: Woodland’s revised outright betting entering R4.

0: Woodland began with a one-shot lead over Rose, four clear of three players (Koepka, Reavie, Oosthuizen). Number of times he gave up the lead: 0

11: Rory McIlroy, who checked in off his 16^th TOUR victory at last week’s Canadian Open, finished T9 (68-69-70-72). He was already the season-leader in top-10 finishes with 10 and now has 11 in 14 starts. McIlroy’s career best is 12 in 2014.

34: Through 34 events this season, the pre-tourney fave/co-fave has won one time: McIlroy (12/1) at THE PLAYERS.

1956: The last player to win a major championship three straight years was Aussie Peter Thomson, who won The Open Championship in 1954, 1955, and 1956.

1905: The only player to win the U.S. Open three straight times was Scotland’s Willie Anderson in 1903, 1904 and 1905.

11: World No. 1 Brooks Koepka records his 11^th top 10 in 23 majors, four straight and fifth in his last six. His last six: 2-1-2-1-39-1.

-5.65: Past champ and World No. 2 Dustin Johnson won the 2009 and 2010 AT&T Pebble Beach and was the 54-hole leader by three here in 2010 before 11-over 82 for T8. He finished T35 this week (71-69-71-74), ranking 78^th (of 79) in SG: Putting with a -5.65.

T12: Danny Willett, whose T8 at last week’s Canadian Open was his first TOUR top 10 since his win at the 2016 Masters 3 years, 2 months and 36 starts ago, finished T12 this week, his first top 30 at the U.S. Open in six tries. The Englishman has been in the top 20 in nine of his last 12 rounds this season.

13: Matt Kuchar finished T16 (69-69-70-73) and has now led the FEC standings for 13 weeks this season, including the last 12 weeks consecutive.

25: Of 25 players making their major debuts, the top-finisher was amateur Viktor Hovland with T12 on 4-under (69-73-71-67). The 21-year-old, who’s set to make his pro debut at this coming week’s Travelers, was also low am (of 15) after being low am at the 2019 Masters (of six). He’s the first player to finish low am at both the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year since Kuchar in 1998.

280: Hovland, the 2018 U.S. Amateur champion at Pebble Beach, broke the U.S. Open amateur aggregate scoring record by two shots with 280, previously 282 by Jack Nicklaus in 1960 (Cherry Hills CC), though Nicklaus finished solo 2^nd in the tourney, two short of champion Arnold Palmer.

T3: Arizona State product Chez Reavie finished T3 for his first top 10 in 18 majors, supplanting a previous-best T12 at the 2018 PGA. It is, however, his third straight top 25 (3-14-12).

T3: San Diego State alum Xander Schauffele’s T3 was his third straight at the U.S. Open (3-6-5) and his fifth top 10 in 10 majors, four of those top 5s. His last six majors read: 3-16-2-35-2-6.

T3: Arizona State alum Jon Rahm’s T3 was his fourth top 10 in 13 majors, third in his last four (3-MC-9-4), and third top 5. His previous best was T4 at the 2018 PGA and solo 4^th at the 2018 Masters.

Field Scoring Average:

This was the 119^th U.S. Open, sixth at Pebble Beach (2019, 2010, 2000, 1992, 1982, 1972:

List of Winners: Gary Woodland, Graeme McDowell, Tiger Woods, Tom Kite, Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus.

Par 71 (35-36)

7,075 yards

R1: 72.69

R2: 72.57

R3: 72.43

R4: 71.19

Total: 72.35

Woodland: 68-65-69-69

SG: Total: 17.877

Woodland’s TOUR Career:

Starts: 245

Cuts Made: 190 (77.5%)

Top 25s: 92 (37.5%)

Top 10s: 38 (15.5%)

Top 3s: 15 (6.1%)

Runners-up: 10 (4.0%)

Wins: 4 (1.6%)

Wins by Season:

2019: 1 (U.S. Open)

2018: 1 (WM Phoenix Open)

2017: 0

2016: 0

2015: 0

2014: 0

2013: 1 (Reno-Tahoe)

2012: 0

2011: 1 (Transitions)

2010: 0 (Major Medical Extension)

2009: 0 (shoulder injury; surgery)

838

While this was Woodland’s fourth TOUR title, it’s easily his most notable to date with a Strength of Field rating of 838.

The 2018 Phoenix Open was 477; the 2013 Reno-Tahoe (now Barracuda) was/is an opposite-field event with a rating of 30; while his maiden win at the 2011 Transitions (now Valspar) Championship was 358.

2019 U.S. Open (54-hole leader by 1)

R4: began 1^st

Shot: 2-under 69

Winning Margin: 3 shots

Career Start: 245

2018 WM Phoenix Open (come from behind)

R4: began T8 (3 back)

Shot: 7-under 64

Winning Margin: PLAYOFF

Career Start: 207

2013 Reno-Tahoe Open (54-hole leader by 7 points)

*Modified Stableford

R4: began 1^st

Shot: +7 points (4-under)

Winning Margin: 9 points

Career Start: 94

2011 Transitions Championship (come from behind)

R4: began T4 (2 back)

Shot: 4-under 67

Winning Margin: 1 shot

Career Start: 33

Woodland’s Q&A:

Q: Gary, you’re now a major champion, U.S. Open champion. Describe what it means to have your name on this trophy with some of the greatest players to have ever played?

A: It’s hard to – I’ve worked hard my whole life. I’ve been surrounded by amazing people and I always just wanted to be successful. I didn’t know what it was, what I was going to do.

I fell in love with golf, and it’s transcended to today. And it kind of came out of me. I never kind of let myself get ahead, just told myself it’s never over, and when the last putt went in, it all came out.

I was more nervous afterwards than I was at all today. I’m glad it’s over with.

Strength of Field:

With a Strength of Field rating of 838 (down 17 from last year), Woodland banks 100.00 world-ranking points:

OWGR: From 25 to 12 (up 13); career high

FedExCup: From 9 to 5 (up 4)

Note: Woodland’s career-high finish in the FEC standings is 17^th after 2011. He’s qualified for the season-ending TOUR Championship six times, including the last three seasons in a row.