Chris Wood (golfer)

Christopher James Wood (born 26 November 1987) is an English professional golfer who currently plays on the European Tour. He was the low amateur in the 2008 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale and tied for third in the following year's tournament held at Turnberry.

For other uses, see Chris Wood (disambiguation).

Chris Wood
Personal information
Full nameChristopher James Wood
Born (1987-11-26) 26 November 1987
Bristol, England
Height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight198 lb (90 kg; 14.1 st)
Nationality England
ResidenceBristol, England
Career
Turned professional2008
Current tour(s)European Tour
Professional wins4
Highest ranking22 (29 May 2016)[1]
(as of 31 January 2021)
Number of wins by tour
European Tour3
Other1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT42: 2016
PGA ChampionshipT33: 2017
U.S. OpenT23: 2016
The Open ChampionshipT3: 2009
Achievements and awards
Sir Henry Cotton
Rookie of the Year		2009

Amateur career

Wood was born in Bristol, England. He went to school at Golden Valley Primary School in Nailsea between the ages of 4 and 11, before leaving to join Backwell School. He began playing golf at a young age. He was a keen footballer with aspirations to play for Bristol City Football Club but following a serious knee injury he devoted himself to golf. He became a member at the Long Ashton Golf Club near Bristol at the age of 9 and obtained a single-figure handicap by age 12.[2] Wood was the English Amateur Order of Merit winner in 2007 and 2008.

In May 2008, Wood won the Welsh Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Conwy. He finished with a score of 289 (74–75–69–71) to take the title by six strokes over teammate Sam Hutsby and by eight over Jamie Abbott from Suffolk. After his victory Wood said "I putted much better today. I stayed pretty patient all the way around. My swing felt good and playing with Gary Wolstenholme kept me relaxed. This is the biggest event I've won so I may take a few days off now."[3]

On 17 July 2008, Wood teed off at Royal Birkdale for the 2008 Open Championship with his father as his caddie. He raised speculation in the press that he could have become the first amateur to win the tournament since Bobby Jones, who won it in 1926, 1927 and 1930.[4] He spoke about his qualification into the weekend of The Open and play at the tournament; "I love playing in front of a crowd," he said after a three over par third round 73. "I've been getting standing ovations on every green. It's been awesome. But I must admit it is now getting daunting for me and I got nervous when they announced my name on the first tee in the third round."[5] He finished joint fifth overall alongside Jim Furyk and was awarded the silver medal as the top amateur.

Professional career

After his success at the Open championship, Wood decided to turn professional.[6] In November he gained his European Tour card for 2009 by finishing in a tie for 5th at qualifying school held at PGA Golf de Catalunya near Girona, Spain; "I've worked really hard for this so I feel like I deserve everything I've achieved, but this does cap a pretty amazing year for me," he said.[7]

Through July of his rookie season, Wood has made 13 of 17 cuts while recording four top-10 finishes. A superb final round at Turnberry in the 2009 Open Championship put Wood in contention for his first major win. A birdie at the final hole would have sufficed but Wood's approach took a hard bounce and ran through the green. A par would have seen him contest the playoff but his par putt finished on the edge of the hole so he had to settle for a joint 3rd-place finish with Lee Westwood. "I've never hit a nine iron 210 yards in my life," he told BBC Sport. "There's nothing I could have done about it. It went miles."[8]

Thanks to his performance at the Open, Wood qualified for the Dubai World Championship and was named the European Tour's rookie of the year. Finishing in the top four at the Open also gave Wood a spot in the 2010 Masters Tournament. He missed the cut by seven strokes.

Wood made a good start to 2011 by tying for the Africa Open but lost to Open champion Louis Oosthuizen on the first playoff hole.

Wood claimed his maiden championship in August 2012 when he took the Thailand Open on the OneAsia Tour. He followed this by winning the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in January 2013, his first European Tour victory, making an eagle on the last hole to win by one stroke. "It's a dream come true," he said after his three-under-par 69 took him to 18 under. "There's an enormous weight lifted off my shoulders. I feel like I can go on and win more. I knew it was going to be hard no matter how I played – winning on the European Tour is not easy."[9]

In June 2015, Wood won his second European tour title at the Lyoness Open with a two-stroke victory over Rafa Cabrera-Bello. He started the day five shots behind leader Grégory Bourdy, but shot a bogey-free final round of 67 to take the victory.

The 2016 season started with a third place at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa. In May, Wood won the 2016 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club; the win lifted him at the 22nd place of the Official World Golf Ranking and guaranteed him an automatic selection for the 2016 Ryder Cup.[10]

Wood paired up with Justin Rose in his career debut at the Ryder Cup for a 1 up victory against Jimmy Walker and Zach Johnson in Saturday's foursomes; in the singles, he lost (1 up) to Dustin Johnson.

Amateur wins (2)
  • 2007 Russian Amateur Championship
  • 2008 Welsh Amateur Open Stroke Play Championship

Professional wins (4)

European Tour wins (3)
Legend
BMW PGA Championships (1)
Other European Tour (2)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 26 Jan 2013 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters −18 (67-70-64-69=270) 1 stroke George Coetzee, Sergio García
2 14 Jun 2015 Lyoness Open −15 (67-69-70-67=273) 2 strokes Rafa Cabrera-Bello
3 29 May 2016 BMW PGA Championship −9 (72-70-68-69=279) 1 stroke Rikard Karlberg

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 2011 Africa Open Louis Oosthuizen, Manuel Quirós Oosthuizen won with birdie on first extra hole

OneAsia Tour wins (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 12 Aug 2012 Thailand Open −23 (67-64-67-67=265) 2 strokes Jang Dong-kyu

Results in major championships
Tournament 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters Tournament CUT T42 CUT
U.S. Open T23 CUT
The Open Championship T5LA T3 CUT T64 T23 WD T14 T28
PGA Championship T76 CUT CUT T46 CUT CUT T33 CUT
Tournament 2019
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship
U.S. Open
The Open Championship CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

LA = Low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied

Summary
TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament00000031
PGA Championship00000083
U.S. Open00000121
The Open Championship00122496
Totals0012252211
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (twice)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2008 Open Championship – 2009 Open Championship)

Results in World Golf Championships

Results not in chronological order before 2015.

Tournament20102011201220132014201520162017
Championship T43 T42 T28
Match Play R64 R64 T61 T39
Invitational T7 73
Champions T39 T51 T23
  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

Ryder Cup points record

2016Total
11

Equipment

Driver: Callaway Great Big Bertha (9 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana D+ 60TX

3 Wood: Callaway XR 16 (15 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana D+ 70TX

5 Wood: Mizuno JPX EZ (18 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana D+ 80TX

Irons: Mizuno MP 25 (3-4), Mizuno MP 5 (5-PW) Shaft: True Temper Project X Flighted 7.0

Wedges: Mizuno MP T-5 (52, 56, 60) Shaft: True Temper Project X Flighted 6.5

Putter: Odyssey Versa #7

See also

References
  1. "Week 22 2016 Ending 29 May 2016" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  2. Kroichick, Ron (19 July 2008). "British Open: That's Wood, not Woods". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
  3. "Wood wins Welsh Title by six stokes". Retrieved 20 July 2008.
  4. "Amateur Wood eyes shock open win". BBC. 19 July 2008. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
  5. Mahoney, Paul (20 July 2008). "Wood aims to turn silver into gold". Golf Magic.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
  6. "International Sports Management news release". Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
  7. "Open star Wood secures Tour card". BBC. 18 November 2008. Archived from the original on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
  8. "Wood misses out by a shot at Open". BBC. 19 July 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  9. "Chris Wood wins first European Tour title with eagle". BBC. 26 January 2013. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  10. "Wood holds on to win BMW PGA Championship". PGA Tour. 29 May 2016. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
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