Gary Woodland embraces role as captain's assistant at Presidents Cup

There was growing speculation late in the recently-completed PGA Tour season that 42-year-old former Kansas golfer Gary Woodland would be offered a playing role in the 2026 Presidents Cup.

Instead, despite one tour victory (Houston Open) and five top-10 finishes during the 2026 campaign, he was called upon by U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker to be one of four non-playing captain's assistants, leaving the actual golf Thursday through Sunday at Medinah (Ill.) Country Club to the team of Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Russell Henley, Collin Morikawa, Chris Gotterup, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Jackson Koivun and Jacob Bridgeman.

The international squad consists of Si Woo Kim, Hideki Matsuyama, Ryan Fox, Tom Kim, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott, Sungjae Im, Nico Echavarria, Corey Conners, Nick Taylor, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Ryo Hisatsune.

“I’m super pumped to be here and help this U.S. team be the best they can be,” Woodland said Monday as a guest on the “Five Clubs” podcast. “Would I like to be playing? Absolutely. But I can tell you this: being part of this team helps me in more ways than me just showing up and trying to do what I can for the team (as a player).

“At the end of the day, these are the best players in the world and my job is to relay Sneds’ message and help these guys feel comfortable so they can go out and be themselves,” Woodland added.

Woodland, a Topeka, Kan., native who has been in the midst of a stirring comeback from brain surgery in September 2023 and ensuing ongoing battle versus PTSD, struggled down the stretch in the final round of the season-ending Tour Championship and finished 29th in a 29-person field in late August in Atlanta.

He appeared exhausted after a long, productive (to the tune of prize money of $5,626,379), emotionally draining season, shooting 7-over-par on the final six holes at East Lake Golf Club.

“Sneds came and spoke to my college team when I was a freshman. So I’ve known him since 2003. We have a very close relationship,” Woodland said of the man who picked this Presidents Cup team. “Obviously, we were both vice captains last year in the Ryder Cup, so our dialog has always been very good. Sneds is really the first person that I opened up to with what I’ve been battling and so he knows on a deeper level of what I’m going through.”

The three other captain’s assistants this week are Jim Furyk, Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson.

Chances are they all know the importance of the play of Scheffler, regarded as the best player in the world.

“I think nobody is more competitive than Scottie. I’ve known Scottie since he was 7 years old, and I think he wants to beat you in everything he does,” Woodland said. ”Scottie is the leader of our team. The guys look to him. His voice carries more weight. He knows that and at the end of the day we just want Scottie to be Scottie. We don’t want Scottie to go do anything more than be himself.

“And I think he’s he’s coming into that role of, ‘Hey, I’m a leader. My voice does carry.’ He’s being more vocal. I love to see it because when Scottie talks, it’s a lot like Tiger (Woods) back in the day. When Tiger speaks, everyone listens. When Scottie speaks in that room, the guys listen, and it’s important for him to do that.”

An interesting choice for the 12-player U.S. team was 21-year-old former Auburn golfer Koivun.

“He is as cool as it gets. If you wouldn’t tell me he was 21 years old, I’d be shocked because he fits in. It’s like he’s hanging out with his college team,” Woodland said. “He’s laughing. He’s joking. It is crazy how talented he is but he’s just a cool kid. And I say kid lightly because he’s a lot younger than the rest of us, and he’s so much farther ahead and comfortable where he is at that age than what I would have been at 21.”

Woodland this week not only has coaching duties, but begins working as ambassador of a new “Birdies for Brain Health” initiative.

Biopharmaceutical entity AbbVie has signed an agreement with the PGA Tour to “put emphasis on brain-related diseases and issues and raise awareness to cater to them.”

According to a news release, the campaign will begin at Medinah with a donation from AbbVie “to be shared among six patient advocacy groups committed to research, education and support for Parkinson’s disease, migraine and mental health conditions.”

The groups are American Migraine Foundation, the National Headache Foundation, Mental Health America, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and the Parkinson’s Foundation.

Birdies for Brain Health will continue to grow in 2027 with donations made for each birdie recorded by golfers at FedEx Cup Playoffs and PGA Tour signature events.

Woodland’s duties as ambassador at this tourney and through next golf season will be to “bring Birdies for Brain Health to life through storytelling and engagement.”

He will continue to discuss publicly the physical, mental and emotional challenges of his recovery from brain surgery and ongoing battle against PTSD.

“This not only is personal for me, but I want to give back and I want to help people. And this is a powerful way that I believe is going to make a big difference,” Woodland said on the podcast.

“One in three people are battling mental health and brain help on a daily basis,” Woodland added. “I just want to let people know that they’re not alone. I’ve obviously talked about my journey and my battle, but I can’t imagine not having the love and support not only of my family and my friends and my team, but the golf world behind me. And it pains me so much to think that somebody’s out there that doesn’t have that.

“... This is something I’m battling every day of my life. I’m still getting up, and I’m still fighting to go out and live my dreams, but it’s not easy. I want everyone out there to realize that no matter what you’re facing, you’re not in this by yourself. I’m fighting here with you.”