Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
You Got This! The Tale of Amy and US Open Champ Woodland
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
June 17, 2019

Share

PEBBLE BEACH — From her perch in front of a TV in Florida, Amy Bockerstette had no doubt.
How could she, after she and Gary Woodland had come this far together.
“You got this Gary,” she kept repeating as Woodland made his way around Pebble Beach on his way to the U.S. Open title Sunday. “You got this.”
On the course, Woodland was telling himself the same thing.
“I said that a lot today, too,” he said.
On this day, Woodland finally did have it, capping off his final round with a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for his first major title. He held off two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka to win the Open on the coast of California.
And down in Florida, the junior college player with the Twitter handle @AmyGolfsNDances did a little dance to celebrate.

More Than 20 Million Have Watched

She lived and died every shot during the round,” said her father, Joe Bockerstette. “I can’t express how excited Amy was. She kept asking me all day when Gary was going to tee off.”

“She lived and died every shot during the round. I can’t express how excited Amy was. She kept asking me all day when Gary was going to tee off.” Joe Bockerstette, Amy’s father 
They’re linked together, the professional golfer with steely nerves and the 20-year-old with Down syndrome. Google the two online, and what comes up is the video of a special day in January when Amy won something in her own way that was just as big as a U.S. Open trophy.
More than 20 million have watched, and more than 20 million had to have cried. Amy had her own moment of glory and as we got to know her, we found out a lot about Woodland, too.
He’s there on the 16th tee at TPC Scottsdale, giving Amy a hug and handing her an iron to hit in a practice round for the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
He’s there high-fiving Amy after she hits it into a bunker and clapping as she gets it out on the green.
And he’s there with a little advice at the end.
“What do you think? Going a little left?” asked Woodland. “Why don’t you go ahead and make that?”
“OK,” Amy replied. “I got this.”
Of course, she did. She hadn’t come this far to fail.

Woodland Was Terrific Under Pressure

Amy sunk the putt for par like a seasoned pro, then she and Woodland celebrated with hugs all around. In the stands around the green, fans stood to cheer the red-headed girl in a purple shirt and white skirt.
“They love me!” she said. “Awesome!”
“You couldn’t have written that script in January,” her father said. “It changed our lives.”
It did, and in more ways than they could have ever imagined.
The first Special Olympics athlete to get a college scholarship — Amy plays with her dad on the bag at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix — Amy already had a life full of golf, dance and piano playing.
Now, because of the viral video, she’s on what Joe Bockerstette calls the “Amy Tour,” where different groups around the country have honored her. In a few weeks she will give the keynote speech to the National Down Syndrome Congress, with 3,000 people expected to be on hand to watch.
All because a PGA Tour pro not only took time to care but embraced the moment.
“Gary is such a great human being,” Bockerstette said. “We only met him once, but we’ve been in contact and he’s done several things for Amy. He’s just terrific.”
Woodland was terrific Sunday under the kind of pressure a U.S. Open final round always brings. That pressure was even more intense because he had to face down two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka on the back nine to win the first major championship of his career.
But he kept remembering what Amy said. If she got this, he could, too.

It Changed Amy’s Life

“I was more nervous for her putt than my putt,” he said.
Afterward, he leaned his arms over the Open trophy and with a phone in his hand did FaceTime with Amy.

“She’s meant everything for me from a mental standpoint. The world needs more of her in it.” — Gary Woodland 
“Did you like that today?” he asked. “I used your positive energy. You were awesome.”
There was plenty of awesomeness to go around on this Father’s Day. But the most awesome thing might be that what was supposed to be a simple meet and greet in Phoenix turned into so much more.
It changed Amy’s life, and in the end it changed Woodland’s, too.
Without Amy, he might not have been thinking, “I got it.” Before they met he had held or shared the third-round lead in seven PGA tournaments and didn’t win one. He was a perennial underachiever who had more talent than results to show for it.
Now he’s a U.S. Open champion. And he’s got a special friend for life.
“She’s meant everything for me from a mental standpoint,” Woodland said. “The world needs more of her in it.”
A little more Gary Woodland wouldn’t be bad either.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

UP NEXT

Trump Threatens Action as Clovis Prepares for CIF State Track Championships

Trump to Pardon Reality TV’s Todd and Julie Chrisley After Tax Evasion Conviction

4 hours ago

Westlands Leader Calls Slight Water Boost ‘Disappointing’

6 hours ago

High School Dropout to Five Decades in Congress: Charles Rangel Dies at 94

NEW YORK — Former U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, an outspoken, gravel-voiced Harlem Democrat who spent nearly five decades on Capitol...

3 hours ago

Charles Rangel Obituary
3 hours ago

High School Dropout to Five Decades in Congress: Charles Rangel Dies at 94

Sean "Diddy" Combs stands as he is arraigned on a superseding indictment ahead of his May trial on sex trafficking charges, in New York, U.S., March 14, 2025, in this courtroom sketch. (REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg?/File Photo)
4 hours ago

A Former Aide Says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Kidnapped Her in a Plot to Kill Kid Cudi

4 hours ago

RIP Local Broadcast Legend Marv Allen, 80, Longtime Voice of KVPR

Todd Chrisley (2nd L) speaks next to his wife Julie (L) and their kids Chase and Savannah at a panel for the USA television series "Chrisley Knows Best" during the Television Critics Association Cable Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills, California July 14, 2014. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
4 hours ago

Trump to Pardon Reality TV’s Todd and Julie Chrisley After Tax Evasion Conviction

6 hours ago

Westlands Leader Calls Slight Water Boost ‘Disappointing’

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) annual meeting in National Harbor, Maryland, U.S., February 22, 2024. REUTERS/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/File Photo
6 hours ago

Republican Tuberville Announces Bid for Alabama Governor

Residents walk by power grid towers at Bair Island State Marine Park in Redwood City, California, United States, January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
6 hours ago

PG&E Sees Surge in AI Data Center Interest With Fresno Area Emerging as New Hotspot

Salesforce Tower in New York
7 hours ago

SF-Based Salesforce Is Buying Informatica in $8 Billion Deal

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend