Gary Woodland dominates the field in winning the 2026 Houston Open

Gary Woodland (Google Images)

Gary Woodland of Topeka, Kansas has won the 2026 Houston Open in dominant fashion. Woodland posted a four-round score of -21, and beast his nearest competitor, Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark by five strokes, as Hojgaard was in second place at -16.

This was the second most dominant win on the PGA Tour in 2026. Justin Rose of London, England won the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego by seven strokes in February by shooting a four round score of -23. 

Woodland had a first round score of six-under-par 64, a second round score of seven-under-par 63, a third round score of five-under-par 65, and a fourth round score of three-under-par 67.

This was the second best score under par in the history of the Houston Open. Vijay Singh of Fiji won the 2002 Houston Open by shooting a four round score of -22. It was a dominant win for Singh too as he beat his nearest competitor, Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland by six strokes.

This was Woodland’s fifth PGA Tour title. He previously won the 2011 Transitions Championship, the 2013 Reno-Tahoe Open, the 2018 Waste Management Phoenix Open, and in 2019, the first and only major title of his career, the United States Open from the majestic Pebble Beach.

Interestingly, this was Woodland’s first PGA title in seven years. This was Woodland’s first PGA title since having serious brain surgery in September of 2023 in an attempt to remove a brain tumour. The tumour was benign, however surgeons were unable to remove the entire tumour. Some of the side effects were memory loss, lack of appetite, and trembling hands according to Ryan Lavner of NBC Sports and Kevin Cunningham of golf.com.