TV cameras miss Woodland’s double eagle at Wyndham

Is a great shot on the golf course a great shot if nobody sees it?

Fortunately, a few dozen specatators were near the No. 6 green at Sedgefield Country Club on Friday to witness what will likely be the best shot of the Wyndham Championship.

Nobody filmed it. Not the PGA Tour nor Golf Channel. Not ESPN or CBS. Apparently, no local television stations. Probably not even any spectators with cell phones were prepared for the rarest of golf shots. Late Friday afternoon, PGA Tour media staffers were scrambling to find any recordings of the shot.

Golf Channel was forced to name Ben Griffin’s eagle on a holed approach at No. 9 as its “Shot of the Day.”

So what did most of us miss?

Gary Woodland made an albatross (double eagle) on the par-5 fifth hole in Friday’s second round at Sedgefield Country Club, sparking the 2019 U.S. Open champion to a 6-under-par 64 and helping him jump into the top 10 at 9-under 131.

The facts: Woodland hit a 337-yard drive into the left side of the fairway and holed his 190-yard approach with a 7-iron.

At least Woodland was available to describe it later, even if he didn’t see it go in, either.

“We were trying to land it 183 (yards) and the wind was a little in so we thought it was a perfect 7-iron, and it came off right where we were looking, landed 183, landed 3 (feet) short,” Woodland told reporters. “Nice to see the crowd go nuts to make sure it went in. It was a good shot, but it was a lot of luck and one that I’ll remember, for sure.

Sedgefield’s undulating fairways and greens often make it impossible for players to see where there ball stops.

“I mean, from that far away you’re just — I’m hoping the crowd goes nuts first, and then I’ll know the ball disappeared,” Woodland said. “You can’t tell if it went behind the pin or not.

“Somebody yelled “go in” when it landed, and so that was a nice bonus for sure.”

No. 67 on the FedEx Cup points list entering this final PGA TOUR regular-season tournament, Woodland has essentially clinched a top 70 and a trip to Memphis for next week’s playoff opener. But a top finish here would boost his chances of advancing to the final two stages.