PGA Tour pro explains "classy gesture" amid Gary Woodland's emotional win

PGA Tour golfers Min Woo Lee and Nicolai Hojgaard have been praised for their "classy gesture" after a tearful Gary Woodland returned to the winner's circle for the first time since the 2019 U.S. Open.

Woodland, 41, cantered to victory at last week's Texas Children's Houston Open, winning by five strokes from Nicolai Hojgaard. 

Victory was all the more special for Woodland considering it was also his first win since having an operation to remove a brain tumour in 2023 and arrived just two weeks after revealing he has been struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. 

When Woodland tapped in on the 72nd hole, the American spread his arms wide and looked to the blue sky. Tears flowed as he embraced his wife Gabby. 

"We play an individual sport but I wasn't alone today," said Woodland. 

"I've got a lot of people behind me - my team, my family. 

"Anybody that's struggling with something, I hope they see me and don't give up - just keep fighting."

Just before Woodland reached the green his playing partners, Australia's Lee and Denmark's Hojgaard held back to let the golfer truly soak in the moment. 

Lee went one step further by trying to amp up the crowd, throwing his arms in the air to urge the crowd to increase the levels of noise. 

"All class by Min Woo," one X user commented. Another added: "Absolutely love it."

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Hojgaard didn't hide his disappointment after missing out on his first PGA Tour win. 

He began the day one stroke behind Woodland but torpedoed his chances after wrecking his scorecard with a double bogey at the seventh after taking two to get out of a greenside bunker. 

Hojgaard fought hard on the back nine but Woodland just kept holing putts and held a four-shot lead going down the 18th. 

Still, he was happy for Woodland and explained that he and Lee discussed letting Woodland enjoy the walk. 

"We thought it was appropriate to let him have his moment," he said. 

"It was a pretty cool moment for Gary and it was cool to see. I'm really happy for him."

It wasn't all disappointment for Hojgaard, whose twin brother Rasmus is also a professional golfer. 

Nicolai's performance in Texas secured him a spot in the 2026 Masters field. Woodland also now has a tee time next week at Augusta National. 

Gary Woodland pays tribute to wife Gabby

Woodland revealed in his winner's news conference that he was struggling during Friday's second round. 

"Some people behind the ropes got close to me and I got extremely hypervigilant," he said. 

"I'll tell you this, if it wasn't for Tour security and my security, Zach, this week, there's no way I'm sitting here right now. I was a wreck the last 10 holes of that day. 

"I got into scoring, Zach got close to me, Tour security was visual so I saw them so they calmed me down. 

"I got into scoring, I bawled my eyes out, I reset and was able to come back out and take care of stuff after."

Woodland said his wife Gabby knew something was wrong. 

"She can tell when I'm off," added Woodland. "She saw it Friday. When I got done, she's like: 'Let's get out of here'. 

"I had to go reset. I said I can finish. But we've got three kids at home, too. 

"She's raising them and trying to take care of me. 

"I'm on the west coast to start the year for four weeks in a row and she knows, she can tell I was in a dark place and she's five hours away raising kids. 

"So she runs the ship. If she goes down, the whole ship goes down, there's no doubt about that. 

"I wouldn't be where I am before all this without her and I'm definitely not sitting here today without her."