There are intersections that provide comfort zones in golf, places where the sun seems to shine perpetually and where you feel surrounded by rich souls and forever friends.

For me, it is the intersection of a journalistic mentor named Jeff Babineau, an uncanny force of nature named Lt. Col. Dan Rooney and Gary Woodland, as good a human as my travels have ever brought me in touch with.

As individuals, they overflow with character, so they have that in common. But personally, it is difficult to separate them; they are a troika awash in an aura of pride and comfort.

The arrival at the intersection of Babineau, Woodland and Rooney avenues – as my heart pictures it – had the most modest of roots. In need of a story back in January 2009 while covering the Sony Open in Hawaii, Babineau, my editor at Golfweek, didn’t waste any time. “Follow Gary Woodland,” Babineau said. “You won’t be disappointed.”

Truer words have rarely been heard, and at a PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club two years later, my path crossed with Babineau’s. He was on his way to watch Woodland play, accompanied by a man who was introduced as a PGA professional. Babineau then added, “but his day job is being an American hero,” and gave a brief description of Lt. Col. Rooney’s three tours of Iraq from inside his fighter jet and his crusade to donate millions of dollars in educational scholarships to spouses and children of fallen or disabled military service members.

With Woodland playing nicely (he had won earlier that season at the Transitions Championship – now Valspar Championship – and would finish T12 at that week’s PGA) and Lt. Col. Rooney offering soft-spoken but gut-wrenching stories of the men and women who had given the ultimate sacrifice for their country, one thought consumed me: Babineau surely knew how to pick them, because this friendship between Woodland and Lt. Col. Rooney was captivating and you found yourself thinking that together, these two could probably do anything they set their minds to.

It turns out they saw in one another a sort of magnetism that was very real.

Relating a story about that time in 2006, when they first met and played golf, Lt. Col. Rooney told Alan Bastable of Golf.com: “He hit it harder and faster than anybody I’d ever seen. I’m like, ‘This guy is like Superman.’ ”

And what does Superman think of Lt. Col. Rooney? “Probably the most inspirational human being you’re ever going to be around in your life,” said Woodland. “An unbelievable patriot ... it’s a miracle what he’s done (with Folds of Honor), to be honest.”

That the miracle worker appears to be Woodland these days is arguably the most heartwarming PGA TOUR story in years. Two and a half years after having delicate surgery to remove a lesion on his brain, and just a few weeks removed from an emotional disclosure to the golf world that he was battling PTSD, the 41-year-old Woodland posted a dominating victory at the Texas Children’s Houston Open.

It was Woodland’s fifth career win, his first since the 2019 U.S. Open, and through tears he said, “We play an individual sport, but I wasn’t alone today.” The hugely popular Woodland praised “a lot of people behind me,” most notably his wife, Gabby.

“It’s been hard on me, but it’s been harder on her," he said.

The horrors of PTSD – and Woodland explained how “inside, I feel like I’m dying and I feel like I’m living a lie” – is something that drew him even closer to Lt. Col. Rooney, for good reason. They're from similar areas of the country (Woodland from Kansas, Lt. Col. Rooney from Oklahoma) and are both proud Kansas Jayhawks sharing a strong Christian faith. Woodland is also a passionate Folds of Honor ambassador.

“We deal with stuff,” said Lt. Col. Rooney of his emotions after his tours of duty, a concession that he knows what Woodland has faced.

While building Folds of Honor into the force of good that it is – nearly 73,000 scholarships totaling over $340 million to the children and spouses of fallen or disabled military service members and first responders – Lt. Col. Rooney has never lost sight of the demon that is PTSD.

Pointing to a horrific statistic, that nearly 20 veterans a day die by suicide because of PTSD issues, Lt. Col. Rooney said there were heartfelt conversations with Woodland the past few weeks. Sharing his story with the media had been a positive step for Woodland, “because when he shared, he wasn’t isolated," said Rooney.

“When you struggle alone, that’s when the real darkness comes into our lives.”

The Woodland-Rooney friendship has been awe-inspiring for years, shining beautifully on various Folds of Honor stages.

“He has been a massive influence in my life,” said Woodland, and during one of the phone calls they shared during the magical days in Houston, Lt. Col. Rooney reminded his friend that “God is working through you” and that a lot of people were going to draw energy and realize hope because of that win in Houston

Tying a tidy bow of symmetry around Woodland’s victory and the friendship with Lt. Col. Rooney is this little nugget: Side-by-side on so many occasions, they have joined forces to offer commentary to a tribute to their dear friend Jeff Babineau, whose death in December of 2025 stunned many in the golf community.

At the annual Golf Writers Association of America awards evening on Wednesday, Babineau will be posthumously honored with the 2026 PGA of America Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism.

His was a golf-writing career defined by impeccable quality and a gentle personality. But when the voices of Woodland and Lt. Col. Rooney are heard in the video tribute, it will strike me as the ultimate validation.

Babineau was spot on with his love of these men; he knew what we all now know: In Woodland and Lt. Col. Rooney, your trust is rewarded.