– Gary Woodland (-18) is the leader of the Texas Children’s Houston Open, one stroke ahead of Nicolai Hojgaard (-17). The final day of the penultimate tournament of the PGA Tour before the Masters at Augusta promises to be a head-to-head between the two of them. That said, the big story belongs to Woodland, as it would be his first win since a brain tumour was detected in 2023, which caused him anxiety, distress and a lot of fear. It would also be his first victory since his extraordinary conquest of the US Open 2019 at Pebble Beach. Needless to say, at Memorial Park in Houston, the tournament venue, everyone is behind the golfer from Topeka, Kansas
– That being so, Nicolai Hojgaard will have to cling to the Stewart Cink syndrome. The Dane knows he is the villain of the piece, but he is not about to give away victories, far from it. He has already shown his intentions today, posting a sensational 63 in the moving day and eating into Woodland’s lead. Nicolai has yet to win on the PGA Tour and finds himself facing his big opportunity. Not only because of his position, but because he has been playing very well in recent weeks. Since finishing fourth at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, he has finished third at the Phoenix Open and sixth at the Cognizant. He has not missed a cut in all of 2026. That’s why he has moved back into the world’s top 50
– The Stewart Cink syndrome goes back to 2009, Turnberry, the final round of the Open Championship. The American was fighting for the victory against Tom Watson and Lee Westwood. Needless to say, the world was backing either of the other two rather than Cink. With Watson for obvious reasons — the craziness of imagining him winning on the verge of 60. With Westwood because he was one of those players whose career lacked only a major. In the end, the villain of the piece prevailed. Cink won, claimed his major and spoiled the party for everyone. Hojgaard hopes to do the same
– The winner will have to play very well. If Nicolai can putt as he did today, including the long birdie putt he rolled at the 18th that just missed, he’ll be well on his way. Meanwhile, Woodland will keep clinging to that rock‑solid long game he has shown all week, although he hasn’t been as sharp on the greens today. We’ll also see how the man from Kansas copes with all the emotions that will come his way tomorrow. Both Hojgaard and Woodland are playing for a place at the Masters. The way both would achieve that objective is for Woodland to win and Nicolai to finish second… It would also be enough for the Dane to finish a little further back
– Beyond the duel for victory, it will be interesting to see if any of those coming from behind can at least unsettle the pair. Watch out for Min Woo Lee (-12), the defending champion, or Michael Thorbjornsen (-12), who is also fighting for the Masters. Special attention to Canadian Yellamaraju, who is back in the upper reaches of the leaderboard, as happened at THE PLAYERS
