A benign lesion resting on his brain had to be removed before Woodland could feel like himself again.

Less than four months after undergoing brain surgery, the 2019 U.S Open champion is ready to make his return to professional golf this week at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

"It's been a long process. Even a couple of weeks ago I didn't know if this week was possible," Woodland said on Tuesday.

"It's been a journey for me, too, but this was a goal of mine from surgery – to be back."

The 39-year-old's symptoms began in late April. He had his first scan on May 24; specialists soon found the lesion and said Woodland's jolting was partial seizures.

"The lesion sat on the part of my brain that controls fear and anxiety," Woodland said.

"(The specialist) is like, 'You're not going crazy. Everything you're experiencing is common and normal for where this thing is sitting in your brain'."

"I want to prove to my kids nobody is going to tell you you can't do anything.” – Gary Woodland.

Throughout that time, Woodland kept playing on the PGA Tour.

He was making cuts, far more than the previous season, and it gave him a break from thinking about his off-the-course struggles.

But his symptoms found their way into his golf game, too.

"I would be standing over a club and forget which club I'm hitting," he said.

"I would be lining up putts and think, 'This is taking too long. I'm just going to hit it'. Didn't have the focus or the energy."

Woodland played through the Wyndham Championship in early August before his caddie took him aside and told him he needed to "get fixed".

Post-surgery, he feels like a new man.

"It was very emotional because I had gone four-and-a-half months of every day really thinking I was going to die," he said.

"The doctors kept telling me I was OK. But this thing pushing on my brain, fear and anxiety – didn't matter if I was driving a car, on an airplane, I thought everything was going to kill me."

Woodland was back to hitting balls five weeks later.

"I can go out and do it for a day or two," Woodland said.

"Can I do it seven days? We'll find out this week."

Woodland hasn't won on tour since his lone major title in June 2019. He said that before his symptoms began, his only fear was of failure – of not being a great golfer.

Now he has a new outlook on life.

"I just want to prove you can do hard things," Woodland said.

"I want to prove to my kids nobody is going to tell you you can't do anything.

"This came out of nowhere for me, but I'm not going to let it stop me."