Phoenix Open Recap: Woodland's Resurrection

Gary Woodland might be the best athlete in golf. Or at least he was when he arrived on the PGA Tour nine years ago. But the athleticism that helped the big-hitting Kansan become an all-state high school basketball player didn't translate into elite success in golf. He had two wins in his first 206 career starts.

Woodland won title No. 3 on Sunday in a playoff against Chez Reavie at the Phoenix Open. He did so by doing something he rarely does: play really well in the final round, birdieing nine holes in a 7-under 64.

We used to own Woodland in the RotoWire auction league a few years ago, and it was maddening to see someone often in contention invariably fade on Sunday. So we looked into it.

Here are Woodland's final-round scoring rankings:

• 2017-18: T65 before Sunday
• 2016-17: T80
• 2015-16: T115
• 2014-15: T94
• 2013-14: T116
• 2013: T159
• 2012: T166
• 2011: T38
• 2010: not enough rounds to be ranked
• 2009: T184 (last on Tour)

It's no mystery why 2011 was Woodland's best season on Tour, with his one and only previous stroke-play win at what is now the Valspar Championship, along with six top-10s and 15 top-25s. He made more money that season than any time since, even as purses have soared. (Woodland also won in 2013 at what is now the Barracuda Championship under the Modified Stableford scoring system.)

The now-33-year-old Woodland does so much well. He's always been among the longest off the tee and, for someone who hits it that far, among the straightest. Most seasons, he's ranked high in greens in regulation.

In fairness, Woodland's career has been marked by near-misses and some injuries. But all of that was put into perspective last spring when he and his wife endured an unspeakable tragedy. One of their unborn twins died.

And even though Woodland's golf success doesn't matter one lick in comparison to how he continues his life in the face of overwhelming grief, he now appears to be handling both.

"Really took off about four months," Woodland told reporters in Phoenix. "But I found a way to get to the Tour Championship, kind of battled through the end of the year, and I couldn't wait for 2018 to start."

It shows. After New Year's, Woodland's game changed. He tied for seventh at the Sony and 12th last week at Torrey Pines – albeit with a final-round 75 – before heading to TPC Scottsdale. He's still doing his strong tee-to-green thing, but he was 16th in strokes gained putting this past week and is now eighth on the season.

All of this adds up to the possibility that Woodland can reach heights he's never reached before. For instance, he's never had a top-10 in 21 career majors. Five years ago, Woodland was outside the top 200 in the OWGR. He made it to a career-best No. 24 in 2015. Now with this win, he's back to No. 26.

Sometimes after a life tragedy, your job – in this case, golf – becomes less important. And then the job somehow becomes easier. Who knows if that's what's happened with Woodland. But with a perfectly healthy baby, little Jaxson, in his arms during his post-victory interview on Sunday, he appears to be in a good place.

"It's really hard to put in words right now," Woodland told reporters. "Last year we battled through it, couldn't get to the offseason quick enough, couldn't start 2018 soon enough. For [Jaxson] to be here, it's obviously a miracle, but I'm just so excited to share this with him and my family, and hopefully it's the start of something special."

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Chez Reavie

Reavie lost on the first playoff hole, but his runner-up moved him to a career-best 61st in the rankings. Quite remarkable for that to happen at age 36, especially after such a pedestrian career. But Reavie has experienced a renaissance the last two seasons. He's turned himself in a reliable fantasy option, one that more times than not is favorably priced. Reavie has only one PGA Tour win, at the 2008 Canadian Open. With his straight-as-an-arrow game, a second career title is not out of the question.

Phil Mickelson

Just when Mickelson was on the verge of falling out of the top-50 in the OWGR for the first time in 15 years, he found some of that ol' Phil magic. Mickelson moved from 49th to 41st with a T5 on Sunday. TPC Scottsdale remains one of the top courses for the former Arizona State Sun Devil, so it's not surprising for him to play well there. With Mickelson, the highs are very high and the lows are … well … you just have to figure out which will happen in which week. It's never easy predicting Phil.

Chesson Hadley

The 2013-14 Rookie of the Year who then fell on hard times returned to the Tour this season. And he opened in spectacular fashion, with three straight top-5s. In fall, the fields were not strong and, well, they actually were weak. But Hadley did it again at Phoenix, tying for fifth. Don't expect three in a row again, but Hadley showed us the start of his season was no fluke. He is now a very impressive No. 68 in the OWGR. And he'll maintain a moderate DFS price tag, at least until there are more high cashes.

Rickie Fowler

There's no way to classify this other than another bad Fowler miss. Leading after three rounds at a track he's had great success, Fowler shot 2-over 73 to tumble to T11. He's now 1-for-6 converting at least a share of the 54-hole lead. Yes, Fowler is still a top-10 golfer and likely will win at least one tournament this year. But scar tissue continues to build up, and it never goes away. This was a maddening result for Fowler's backers.

Xander Schauffele

Last week, we postured that Schauffele might be a bit tired after a whirlwind fall season that included multiple tournaments in Asia. So he came out and played three solid rounds at Phoenix to sit T5 entering Sunday. Oops, nothing tired about that. On Sunday, though, he opened with four bogeys in the first seven holes to tumble to T17. Sometimes, tiredness doesn't manifest itself on Thursday. Schauffele is skipping Pebble Beach, and we think that's a prudent move.

Brandt Snedeker

In the last three weeks, Snedeker has gone MC-T45-T23. And he's in the field for Pebble. So if nothing else, his rib injury is a thing of the past. But there is something else – he keeps getting better each week. So that means the two-time Pebble winner needs to be a serious consideration this week.

Steve Stricker

Stricker played for the first time since August – that's PGA Tour, Champions Tour, anywhere. And he tied for 31st. He's 50 years, he's 127th in the world rankings and he has to be a lineup consideration whenever he plays. The price surely will be friendly.

Kelly Kraft

Kraft missed the cut and now heads to Pebble Beach, where he was runner-up to Jordan Spieth last year. Since then, Kraft has played 26 tournaments and missed 12 cuts with two WDs. His world ranking has fallen from 171st to 225th. No matter the price this week, Kraft simply has been playing too poorly to merit consideration.

Hideki Matsuyama

Matsuyama withdrew before his second round on Friday, citing a left wrist injury. That's about all we know. The world No. 6 wasn't slated to play Pebble this week but he did commit to the Genesis Open in two weeks. If Matsuyama plays Riviera, with its Japanese ownership, chances are this injury was just a scare. If not, it's a scare.