Harmon to Woodland: We're going to change everything

For a minute, Gary Wood­land thought Butch Harmon was simply messing with him.

When the rising PGA Tour star met with the renowned golf teacher to begin their work together in January, Harmon laid everything out to his newest pupil in one simple phrase:

“We’re going to change everything.”

Woodland thought Har­mon was joking. He wasn’t.

“It was within a minute of the conversation starting that I realized he wasn’t kidding and was going to change everything, and why,” Woodland said. “Once he told me why, there was no question. I jumped on board right away.”

Harmon used the word “natural” to describe his first impressions of seeing Woodland when he began playing on the PGA Tour. Harmon likes keeping an eye on the tour’s young guns and Woodland got his attention.

“I’d watched him in practice rounds when he played with some of the guys I worked with,” Harmon said. “He has so much natural talent, and he’s such a great kid. It’s like anyone else that you see in these young guys with all this talent. I like to watch them and see what they’re doing.”

As a teacher and coach, Harmon’s watchful eye is different than most.

While others saw prodigious drives rocketing off Woodland’s driver, Harmon critiqued the flight path.

He saw plenty of room for correction.

“He was pretty one-dimensional, played a pretty high left-to-right cut,” Harmon said. He wanted to change everything.

“The main deal was, he told me that when I hit it good, I’m really good,” Woodland said. “When I don’t, I’m not good enough. ”

Their first session together is already a bit legendary, and it also told Harmon everything he wanted to know about whether their relationship would work.

For six days at Rio Secco Golf Club in Las Vegas, all Woodland did was hit balls. He hit so many he had to leave early. His hands were bloody from the work.

Woodland had to take a couple of weeks off to heal before returning to action in late January. But that was encouraging for Harmon.

“I like guys that work hard,” Harmon said. “All the guys I’ve had through the years have worked hard and you can’t get better without working. He understands what practice is and he understands that this is going to take time.”

His best finish since his work with Harmon started is a tie for 26th at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Even though the results haven’t showed completely on the course, Woodland said he’s noticed a complete change.

His wedge play, he insists, is better than it has been. And he’s even longer off the tee with his driver.

Woodland made a strong Masters debut a year ago, tying for 24th. And both Woodland and Harmon expect the fruits of their labor to begin to show this week.

“We know it’s close and hopefully it’s Thursday,” Woodland said.