What did Gary Woodland do with the Courage Award’s $25,000 donation?

Gary Woodland, who underwent surgery in 2023 to remove a benign tumor that was pressing the fear centre of his brain, was named the recipient of the PGA Tour Courage award along with $25,000 in prize money. The award is given by the PGA Tour to those who show courage and perseverance to overcome extraordinary adversity.

Woodland didn't use the prize money amount for his own needs, rather, he donated the money to Champion Charities.

Before this week’s Cognizant Classic, Woodland was asked why he chose that charity and in response, he said (via ASAP Sports):

“I had the honor this year of playing with Harris Barton at Pebble Beach. He was my amateur partner there this year at AT&T, and I've known Harris for a while, but as we were talking during the tournament, I found out through him that both of his parents passed from brain tumors.”

Gary Woodland continued, “He talked about his charity that he started, and Gabby and I started to look into it more, and when the TOUR was amazing enough to donate to a charity of my choice, this one just hit our hearts…That's why we decided to get involved financially and just try to help. Like I said, they're doing a lot with pediatric, kids with brain tumors, too, and I know how hard this was on my family. It was hard on me for sure, but my family.”

In 2023, Woodland went through a surgery called craniotomy to get the tumor removed and cut it off from the majority of the blood supply.

Woodland made his return to the PGA Tour soon after and will next play at the Cognizant Classic, which will take place from Thursday to Sunday at the PGA National Members Club and it'll boast a purse of $9,200,000. Woodland will tee off on the first tee for the opening round with Shane Lowry and Min Woo Lee at 12:40 pm.

Gary Woodland also played at the Cognizant Classic at the PGA National Resort & Spa course last year. He failed to make the cut after shooting 70 and 74 in the first two rounds of the tournament.

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How is Gary Woodland performing in the 2025 PGA Tour season?

Gary Woodland has played four tournaments on the 2025 PGA Tour season so far and out of them, he has had one top 20 finish that came at the Sony Open in Hawaii with T16 after scoring an 11-under 269. His last tournament appearance was at the Genesis Invitational, where he missed the cut after shooting 76 and 75 in two rounds. Here's a list of Woodland’s 2025 performances so far on the PGA Tour:

2025 PGA TOUR Tournaments

• Sony Open in Hawaii at the Waialae Country Club: T16, 68-66-66-69, 269 (-11)
• AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at the Pebble Beach Golf Links: T22, 68-72-70-68, 278 (-10)
• WM Phoenix Open at the TPC Scottsdale (Stadium Course): T21, 70-67-68-69, 274 (-10)
• The Genesis Invitational at the Torrey Pines (South Course): Missed cut, 76-75, 151 (+7)