Tommy Fleetwood reacts as Gary Woodland wins the Texas Children’s Houston Open

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Tommy Fleetwood has joined in sending plaudits to Gary Woodland after he won the Texas Children’s Houston Open for his first PGA Tour victory since 2019.

Woodland went into the final round at Memorial Park with a one-shot lead over Nicolai Hojgaard. It looked highly likely that one of the pair would walk away with the title.

In truth, the last day of the Houston Open proved to be anticlimactic from a neutral perspective. However, it was virtually impossible not to be delighted by how easy Woodland made it look.

Tommy Fleetwood sends message to Gary Woodland after his Houston Open win

As Hojgaard toiled, Woodland was able to open up a commanding lead. He made four birdies before the turn while he only made one bogey all day.

And when he managed to get up and down on the 72nd hole, Woodland’s five-shot victory was confirmed. Unsurprisingly, it was an incredibly emotional moment.

Woodland has been open about his mental struggles in recent years. Remarkably, it was only a couple of weeks ago that the 41-year-old revealed just how difficult he has found life since undergoing brain surgery in 2023.

So it is no surprise that there was such a strong outpouring of love for Woodland, with Tommy Fleetwood among those lauding the 2019 US Open champion on social media.

He posted: ‘It was always “a when’ not ‘an if” @GaryWoodland, so proud of everything for you and the family – a huge inspiration to us all!! Congratulations‘.

Elsewhere, Graeme McDowell wrote: ‘Man I’m so happy for @GaryWoodland. What an inspirational story. Not a dry eye in the house. Special guy.’

Gary Woodland provides another victory the game of golf desperately needed

It has been a special season when it comes to scarcely-believable comebacks.

LIV Golf saw Anthony Kim win their flagship event in Adelaide last month. It was truly stunning to see how Kim performed in the months leading into his victory at The Grange.

Similarly, Woodland is still clearly fighting his demons. All we can do is hope that the win and the love that he will rightly receive can take him that little bit closer to seeing light at the end of the long tunnel.