GREENSBORO, N.C. – For the past few months, Gary Woodland’s swing coach, Randy Smith, has been telling him to be patient, have fun and smile more.

Woodland did all three on Friday as he fired a 64 in the second round of the Wyndham Championship – particularly at the fifth hole, where he made the rarest of the rare, an albatross.

Woodland had 186 yards to the hole on the par 5, which was a perfect number for his 7-iron. He landed it 3 yards short of the pin, just as planned, and watched – make that, listened – as the ball sneaked into the hole.

“Nice to see the crowd go nuts to make sure it went in,” Woodland said, grinning. “It was a good shot, but it was a lot of luck and one that I'll remember, for sure.

“I mean, from that far away you're just, I'm hoping the crowd goes nuts first and then I'll know the ball disappeared. You can't tell if it went behind the pin or not. Somebody yelled ‘go in’ when it landed and so that was a nice bonus for sure.”

The albatross was the 144th on the PGA TOUR since 1963 and the third this season. It was just the second at the 529-yard par 5 at Sedgefield Country Club; the other made by Johnson Wagner, also in the second round, in 2017.

For Woodland, it was the second time he’d made an albatross. The other came on the third hole at Shawnee Country Club in Topeka, Kansas, when he was still in high school, and was also made with a 7-iron.

“It’s obviously good luck,” Woodland said of the club. Another one of those smiles lit up the 41-year-old’s face.

The round of 64 was Woodland’s career-best at Sedgefield by two strokes and left him solidly in the mix at 9 under. Woodland came to Greensboro ranked 75th in the FedExCup and through the first 36 holes, he’s making strides toward booking a spot in next week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Regardless of whether he moves into the FedExCup top 70 on Sunday and makes the Playoffs, though, the former U.S. Open champion is looking forward to serving as one of Keegan Bradley’s vice captains at the Ryder Cup. And downtime – whenever it comes – will be welcome for the man who had surgery to remove a tumor in his brain two years ago next month.

The craniotomy involved 30 staples and a hole the size of a baseball in his skull. The doctors had to leave some of the tumor due to concerns about how it might impact the sight and movement in the left side of his body. Thankfully, the tumor, which caused anxiety and unfounded fears, particularly of dying, was benign and they were able to cut off the blood supply to what remained.

Woodland, who called Thursday’s heat “brutal,” has played seven of the last nine weeks. His plans after the second round involved treatment from his trainer, and then heading to a dark room to sit for an hour or so to “let my brain recover.”

“I'm tired, my brain's tired,” Woodland said.

This weekend, though, there’s work to be done, and he is beyond grateful for the opportunity to continue playing the game he loves.

“I'm very fortunate to be where I am and it's nice to get reminded of that sometimes, especially when you feel like you're playing well and you don't get any results, it gets frustrating,” Woodland said. “So, reminding myself to stay patient and enjoy it.

“A lot worse things I could be doing than out here playing golf so I'm excited to be out here.”

Woodland only has one top-10 finish this season, tying for second with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, one stroke behind Min Woo Lee at the Texas Children’s Hospital Open. He shot four rounds in the 60s there, one of three times that has happened this season, most recently at last week’s 3M Open, where he tied for 20th.

Woodland has built on that performance at Sedgefield. He’s finding fairways, hitting 23 of 28 over the first two rounds, as well as 27 of 36 greens in regulation. He’s also eliminated mistakes, making just one bogey in the first 36 holes, and closing with a 29 on Thursday.

“I'm going to go rest now, won't practice much,” he said. “Just to keep doing what I'm doing. Coach keeps telling me hit the shot that's in front of me, hit the shot that's required and enjoy it, that's what I'm going to do.”

That advice is easier because Woodland likes the direction he’s headed. He’s sure that Smith does, too.

“My game's been in a good spot for a couple months, I just haven't put it together,” Woodland said. “So the message has been there for a couple months, and it was nice to finally see some results. And he keeps telling me to smile, so that last nine holes makes me smile for sure.”