Gary Woodland held off several top golfers to win the U.S. Open, his first major championship win.
Before Woodland's run at Pebble Beach, he may be best known as the golfer who took his pants off to hit a shot out of the water at the 2016 Honda Classic. While he saved his trousers, he also learned a funny lesson in making sure to take care of your business partners.
According to Woodland, he looked at where his tee shot landed on the sixth hole of the PGA National golf course and quickly realized that there was no way he was going to be able to hit that shot and not come out of it with his white pants covered in mud.
The logical next step, according to Woodland, was to take the pants off.
While that made for some fun internet and highlight-show fodder, Woodland had some explaining to do to both the PGA and to Under Armour. Woodland now wears Puma gear, but at the time, he was one of Under Armour's top golfers.
The PGA Tour seemed to be concerned with Woodland baring his skin. After all, this is a sport where the idea of wearing shorts during practice rounds caused a firestorm. Meanwhile, Under Armour was more concerned with what Woodland had on underneath.
"The next day, [Under Armour] wanted to know why I wasn't wearing Under Armour underwear," Woodland said. "I said, 'I was!' Their underwear is some of the best stuff they have."
But there was a small problem. The Under Armour logo on their underwear, while large, is only found around the waistband. Woodland's was not visible.
Woodland had missed out on a tremendous opportunity to get a line of Under Armour products some national exposure it doesn't typically receive. This earned Woodland a humorous rebuke from Under Armour.
"They said, 'Next time, make sure to tuck your shirt in,'" Woodland said.
Next time Woodland decides to strip out of his pants on the golf course, he'll probably make sure to take an extra moment to tuck in his shirt. The PGA Tour probably won't be happy, but they'll get over it.
This post was originally published in 2016 and has been updated.
