{"id":97875,"date":"2026-03-28T13:30:49","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T16:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/gary-woodland-builds-3-shot-lead-at-houston-open\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T13:30:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T16:30:54","slug":"gary-woodland-builds-3-shot-lead-at-houston-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/gary-woodland-builds-3-shot-lead-at-houston-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Gary Woodland builds 3-shot lead at Houston Open"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Mar 27, 2026, 08:32 PM ET<\/span><\/div>\n

HOUSTON — Gary Woodland<\/a> felt a weight lifted from speaking publicly about his mental health, and he looked freer than ever Friday with a 7-under 63 in the Houston Open to build a three-shot lead going into the weekend at Memorial Park.<\/p>\n

Woodland sounded more pleased with not getting down about one bad swing than his finish of three straight birdies that allowed him to build some separation.<\/p>\n

He was at 13-under 127, three ahead of Nicolai Hojgaard<\/a> (62) and Jackson Suber<\/a> (63) on a comfortable day of good scoring for most everyone.<\/p>\n

Brooks Koepka<\/a> was an exception. Coming off a 75 marred by three double bogeys in the first round, Koepka had a triple bogey on the par-3 second hole, his 11th of the day. He shot 69 to miss the cut for the second time since his return from LIV Golf.<\/p>\n

Woodland wasn’t dialed in off the tee, hitting only five fairways, but Memorial Park has enough room to let it fly and he was rarely out of position. He finished his round with a wedge to 3 feet on the par-5 16th, a 15-foot birdie on the 17th and a 12-foot birdie on the 18th.<\/p>\n

But what stuck with him was a tee shot he yanked into the water left of the 13th fairway, leading to a penalty drop and ultimately having to make a 4-foot putt to escape with bogey.<\/p>\n

“I was proud of myself because what Randy Smith, my coach, calls an ‘oops.’ I had a bad swing there on 13, and I’ve hit it so well the last couple days, I didn’t let that bother me,” Woodland said. “I told myself to forget about it and move on, and I was able to do that. That was a big change for me to let that go and keep doing what I’ve been doing the last couple days.”<\/p>\n

The 2019 U.S. Open champion has been playing a well-rounded game, in control of his swing and confident on the greens after he realized his alignment was off and changed his putter to help.<\/p>\n