Gary Woodland secures sponsors exemption for Tiger Woods' 2024 Genesis Invitational 

Gary Woodland is back in Pacific Palisades to play in The Genesis Invitational for the seventh time in his career. Woodland's presence at Riviera has deep sentimental overtones due to the health challenges he recently overcame.

Woodland received one of the four sponsors exemptions that were distributed for The Genesis Invitational field. The other three were received by Adam Scott, Will Zalatoris and Tiger Woods. Chase Johnson received the Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption.

Gary Woodland was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2023. He underwent surgery in September 2023, during which most of the lesion was removed. Woodland has made an admirable recovery, allowing him to return to competitive golf as early as January 2024 (The Sony Open).

At the time, Woodland had this to say about his return (via Golf.com):

"I want to prove to my kids nobody is going to tell you you can’t do anything. You can overcome tough, scary decisions in your life. Not everything is easy. This came out of nowhere for me, but I’m not going to let it stop me. I don’t want this to be a bump in the road for me. I want it to be a jump start in my career."

Woodland has played six times in the tournament currently called The Genesis Invitational, making three cuts. His best result was a T9 earned in 2023, when he also posted his best score for 72 holes in the event (9-under 275).

Of the 18 rounds he has played in The Genesis Invitational, Gary Woodland has posted five with scores in the 60s, three of them in the 2023 edition. His personal lowest score for 18 holes at the event is 67 (third round of 2023).

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How has Gary Woodland started the 2024 season?

The start of the 2024 PGA Tour season has not been very good for Gary Woodland, from a sporting point of view. The 2019 US Open champion has played three tournaments corresponding to the current season and failed to make the cut in any of them.

Woodland started the year playing in the Sony Open in Hawaii. There he posted two rounds of 71 and missed the cut with a score of 2 over. His next start, the Farmers Insurance Open, was almost an exact copy of the previous one, as he also posted two rounds of 71. His score there was 2 under, but he missed the cut again.

His third stop of the year was at the WM Phoenix Open. At the Stadium Course of TPC Scottsdale, he had his worst round so far this season, but also his best. The first day he scored 79, but on the second day he improved to 67. However, it was not enough to make the cut.