Gary Woodland, who played collegiate golf at the University of Kansas and hails from Topeka, Kan., was 12 shots off the lead going into today’s final round in The Open Championship..
That is surprising enough, but what really got everyone’s attention was the 415-yard drive
Woodland cushed on the 404-yard fifth hole Friday at Royal St. Georges Golf Club in Sandwiuch, England. The hole was playing downwind, the Associated Press reported in its tournament coverage on Friday, and Woodland’s tee shot ended up on the back fringe of the fifth green.
The Topeka native wound up three-putting the hole for a par on his way to a two-under round of 68.
Woodland found himself with a healthy following of interested spectators on Saturday, despite weather conditions that were about as unfavorable as one could imagine, even for a British links golf course.
On the 14th hole on Saturday, Woodland hit his first tee shot out of bounds. His second ball off the tee sailed 50 yards to the left and landed in grass so high that it took around 40 spectators to finally locate the errant tee shot.
For all his ups and downs in Saturday’s horrid conditions, Woodland fired a four-over 74, which was as good a round as many of the golfers who got to play under better conditions in the afternoon round.