It has taken some time but Chris Wood finally delivered on the potential he showed when finishing fifth as an amateur at the 2008 British Open by winning the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
The beanpole Englishman’s one-stroke victory at the European Tour’s flagship event on Sunday sent him rocketing from 54th to 22nd in the world rankings and went a long way towards clinching a debut Ryder Cup appearance in September.
Wood said compatriot Danny Willett’s first major victory at the US Masters in April had given him the kick up the backside he needed to make the next step in his career progression.
“I’ve grown up with Dan since we were about 13, 14, through England amateur golf, and there’s no doubt seeing players like that win pushes you,” the 28-year-old told reporters. “I’m not somebody who needs to be motivated. I can motivate myself but... you just want that feeling of winning a tournament again and holding a trophy. It definitely spurs you on.”
The 6-foot-6 (1.98-metre) Wood said he found it tough to enjoy the experience as he was plotting his way to his third, and most important, tour win. “I’m pretty tired,” he added after finishing with a three-under-par 69 and a nine-under tally of 279.
“It is so hard to win a golf tournament and particularly one of this stature. The golf course is so demanding, the final six holes or so, when they play into the wind, it seems like every shot you’ve got to hit good shot after good shot just to try and make pars. That’s how it feels when you’re leading so mentally it’s very draining and you can’t really enjoy it to be honest, even though obviously I played really nicely.”
Swede Rikard Karlberg finished in second place, one ahead of world number nine Willett, who lamented a poor back-nine 39 in the second round that sent him back into the pack after a tournament record outward half of 29 had pushed him into first place.
“It was easier on Friday in the morning and then we hit a bit of a slow patch,” said Willett. “That kind of killed it really. There was a lot of good in there this week but the bad shots have been pretty bad. A couple of weeks off now before the US Open is going to do me some good.”
Wood also put himself in the frame for a place in the European Ryder Cup team, under Darren Clarke at Hazeltine, with his one million euro ($1.11 million) prize money, but still has to overtake Willett and Justin Rose in the world rankings to make the Great Britain team for Rio.
The Wentworth victory will push Wood into the top 25, but Willett was ninth and Rose 10th the week before the event. There is an added complication—Wood is getting married the week after the Olympics and his stag party is due to take place when the golf is on in Brazil.
“My stag do is the week of the Olympics now,” the 28-year-old laughed. “You could probably postpone that but not the wedding, which is the week after. I had sort of put it in my head that Justin and Dan were locked in, really. If that changes, then great.
“We can always have a stag do in Rio, can’t we? I’m still a little bit off the pace. They are both top-10 in the world. I’ll need to still show some really good results in the next couple of months to give myself a chance at pushing one of those two out.”
Wood had a chance of winning this tournament back in 2010 when he was in front going into the last round, only for Simon Khan to win after Wood had shot a final-round 77. And the player from Bristol claims the experience of throwing that away helped him finally land the biggest title of his career.
“I was leading by two going into the last day, and I think the whole thing got the better of me. Even I can remember back that day, that was a Ryder Cup year. I sat at breakfast thinking, ‘Oh my God, if I win this, I might make the Ryder Cup’.
Those sort of thoughts aren’t what you want four hours before you tee off. You can’t ignore the fact that if you win an event like this, it is going to put you in the frame. But it’s being able to manage those shots, and six years on, I’m older and more experienced... I can do that.”