41 year old Gary Woodland won his first tournament in over 6 years at the 2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open. His four rounds of 64, 63, 65 and 67 made for an awesome -21 (259 – a new tournament record (beating defending champion Min woo Lee’s 260 last year). He finished five shots clear of Nicolai Hojgaard.

It’s been a tough road back for Woodland – he underwent surgery to remove a brain lesion in September 2023 and returned to competition at the 2024 Sony Open in Hawaii. In early March 2026 (two starts prior) he went public with a PTSD diagnosis in the wake of brain surgery.

Woodland earns exemptions into this year’s Masters Tournament, PGA Championship and U.S. Open, as well as the 2027 PLAYERS Championship.

Australia’s Defending champion Min Woo Lee (T3/-15) finishes T3 in first title defense. He was seeking to become the second player to successfully defend a Texas Children’s Houston Open title since Vijay Singh/2005/GC of Houston. It’s great form leading to the upcoming US Masters at Augusta in a few weeks.

In more great news on the home front, evergreen and 14-time PGA TOUR winner Adam Scott (T21/-8) aced the par-3 11th hole, his third ace on TOUR (2010 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, 2012 Masters Tournament). It was the first hole-in-one recorded on No. 11 since the Texas Children's Houston Open moved to Memorial Park Golf Course in 2020.

More Tournament notes;

• Two players in the field who were not yet exempt qualified for the Masters Tournament via the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking: Nicolai Højgaard /2nd, Jake Knapp/T6
• Seeking his first PGA TOUR victory in his 63rd start, Nicolai Højgaard (2nd/-16) earns his fourth runner-up on TOUR (2023 Corales Puntacana Championship, 2024 Farmers Insurance Open, 2025 Zurich Classic of New Orleans with teammate/brother Rasmus)
• PGA TOUR rookie and 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year, Johnny Keefer (T3/-15) records career-best finish in his 14th start on TOUR (previous: T7/2023 RSM Classic)|
• Shane Lowry (T28/-7) records a hole-in-one on the par-3 No. 2, his fourth ace on TOUR (2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, 2022 PLAYERS Championship, 2016 Masters Tournament)
• Three aces were made at the 2026 Texas Children's Houston Open (other: Cole Hammer/No. 15/R1); last time three aces were recorded at the same event was at the 2023 U.S. Open (Matt Fitzpatrick/R2, Matthieu Pavon/R1, Sam Burns/R1)

Final Leaderboard