Gary Woodland is one of the most popular players on the PGA Tour and he will be incredibly grateful of the fact that he’s playing regularly right now.
It was in September 2023 when PGA Tour star Woodland underwent brain surgery in order to get a lesion removed.
Just over two years later and he’s swinging the club as good as he ever has. Woodland is hugely respected by his fellow PGA Tour players and for good reason, considering how he’s come back from such an invasive operation.
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The next step for him now will be to win again. That certainly won’t be easier but he does have a huge advantage on every other player on the PGA Tour right now.
The four-time PGA Tour winner has missed two cuts in the four events he has played so far this season and his best finish has been a tie for 64th.
So the results clearly haven’t been great for the 41-year-old so far. However, there is something for Woodland to be really positive about.
In fact, what the 2019 US Open champion is doing right now is completely unheard of in the professional game.
What Gary Woodland has been doing on the PGA Tour in 2026 is truly remarkable
While Woodland has struggled to produce decent results on the PGA Tour in 2026, he has been doing something that is incredibly impressive.
He is leading the driving distance stats on the PGA Tour this season by nearly a full yard over Michael Brennan.
Woodland has driven the ball 330.2 yards on average in 2026. That represents an increase of 17 yards on average off the tee over the past four seasons and a more than 20-yard increase from the years before that.
That is quite incredible given the fact that he’s on the wrong side of 40.
The reason Woodland has become even longer than he already was is down to the improvements he has made in the ball-speed and clubhead speed departments.
So let’s take a look at some of the players whom the 2019 US Open champion is leaving in his wake so far this season…
Gary Woodland’s ball-speed and clubhead speed stats
To truly understand the magnitude of what Woodland has been doing off the tee in 2026, you need to look at some of the players he is ahead of in the stats…
| 2026 Ball-speed rank | Name | Ball-speed average |
| 1 | Gary Woodland | 188.31 |
| 2 | Aldrich Potgieter | 188.21 |
| 3 | Nicolai Hojgaard | 188.12 |
| 4 | Michael Brennan | 187.56 |
| 5 | Rasmus Hojgaard | 187.03 |
For context, that is a 4 mph increase from Woodland from the 2025 and 2024 PGA Tour seasons, and a whopping 8 mph more ball speed on average than what he was producing four years ago!
Also, the oldest age on that list aside from Woodland is 24!
Now, let’s take a look at the clubhead speed numbers Woodland has been producing on the PGA Tour in 2026:
| 2026 clubhead speed rank | Name | Clubhead speed average |
| 1 | Michael Brennan | 127.37 |
| 2 | Gary Woodland | 127.00 |
| 3 | Christo Lamprecht | 125.77 |
| 4 | Marco Penge | 125.58 |
| 5 | Aldrich Potgieter | 125.10 |
Just for context, no player has averaged over 127 mph clubhead speed on the PGA Tour for the past five seasons.
Aside from the major champion, Marco Penge is the oldest on that list at 27!
Woodland has jumped from 125 mph average clubhead speed in 2024 and 2025 up to 127.
In 2015 when the man from Kansas was 30, he was averaging 121 mph clubhead speed on the PGA Tour.
The fact that Woodland has found a way to lead the ball speed stats on the PGA Tour in 2026 at the age of 41 is truly remarkable.
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