Chris

Wood

The 33-year-old Wood, who grew up just 30 miles from Newport in Bristol, England, tasted victory in Wales in the past, having won the Welsh Amateur Stroke Play Championship in 2008. “Being from Bristol, an event at Celtic Manor is as close to home as it gets,” said the 2016 Ryder Cup player. “I’m really looking forward to playing in front of fans and the support we’ll all receive during the week. Celtic Manor is a great venue. I was disappointed to miss the events there last year, so I’m looking forward to having the chance to go back.” It’s been a rocky season for Wood, who has made just five cuts in 12 starts this season, but he arrives in Wales off a 77th-place finish at the abrdn Scottish Open where he opened with two sub-par rounds of 68-69 –mirroring winner Min Woo Lee – but faded over the weekend with rounds of 73-75. In five previous starts at the Cazoo Open, formerly called the Wales Open, he’s never missed a cut with a best finish of T-10 in 2009.

“First training camp of 2020 done,” tweeted the Englishman last week from the Middle East. “Thanks to all at Troon Golf for looking after us – there was blood, sweat but no tears!” It’s a big year for the Englishman who was three times second in 2018 and yet admitted every time that he felt his form was less than the results suggested. Fitness worries then became a huge problem last year. It took him nine starts to make a cut and in 16 appearances he played four rounds just five times, never finishing better than T40 (in the KLM Open). He’s never played the golf course, but has experience of South Africa. He was a play-off loser in the 2011 Africa Open and third in the 2015 Nedbank Challenge. He’s 10-for-15 in all.

There were few more welcome sights last week than the tall Englishman a) making a cut (his first of the season at the ninth time of asking), b) going low in round three (with a 66), and c) finally banking a check (T53 – a little unfortunate after three consecutive sub-70 rounds). It perhaps inspired his first tweet since the end of June on arrival in Crans. He might enjoy the views, but he’s never quite clicked in the Alps. He’s 4-for-9 (with one withdrawal among the missed cuts). His best was T15 in 2010 (when T7 after 54 holes) and last year he was T23 (his second best effort).

The Englishman has every reason to be fond of making a return trip to Sweden. Back in 2008, in his tournament debut, he was T18 and his second start, four years later, reaped T22. He missed the cut in 2014, but two years ago he was the one shot 54 hole leader before ending the week T2. Within that log book he has a poor first round record (70-71-73-74), but a fine one in the second lap (67-66-75-68). If all that is good news, now let’s settle in for the bad. In eight starts this campaign Wood has missed seven cuts and been disqualified in the exception. In all that time he has broken 70 just the once. In fact the last time he scratched a number in the 60s was the third round of last year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He’s making a course debut.

It’s not been the dream start to 2019 on the course for the tall Englishman, but he’ll be pleased to have taken the time out to greet his new baby to the world and insisted last season that he has matured in recent years so doesn’t fret when the results don’t come, confident in his ability to find form sooner or later (he added: “I see the youngsters now and think how every round, every shot worries them, thankfully I’ve realized you’ve got to take you time and trust yourself.”). With missed cuts in Oman, Qatar (where is a past champion) and Malaysia that faith is being tested. He played this course last year shooting 77-69-75-76 to finish T48.

The Englishman never looked like playing the weekend, chasing the cut mark of 1-under, reaching the turn having made one birdie and one bogey, but then scratching a double bogey-7 at the tenth and tossing in two bogeys by day’s end. Other notables that will join him in getting the weekend off include: 144- Ashun Wu, Joakim Lagergren ... 145- Peter Hanson, Clement Sordet ... 146- Alvaro Quiros, Andrea Pavan ... 148- Aaron Rai, Jaco Van Zyl ... 149- Tom Lewis … 152- Paul Lawrie.

Twelve months on from his title tilt in Muscat the tall Englishman failed to negotiate the gusting conditions following a break caused by rehabbing an injury and awaiting the birth of his second child. He made the turn in level par after a birdie and bogey on the back nine, but he opened the front nine birdie-bogey and then lurched home with two bogeys and two double bogeys in his final five holes. Other notables that will join him in getting the weekend off include: 149- Min Woo Lee, Lucas Herbert, Justin Harding … 150- George Coetzee … 152- Pablo Larrazabal, Bernd Wiesberger … 153- Ross Fisher … 161- Marcus Kinhult.

The Englishman will feel that he has some sort of hoodoo when it comes to the DP World Tour Championship, because his debut witnessed him very nearly collapse due to dehydration and he was rushed to hospital with what was later diagnosed a virus. He wrote on Twitter: “Frustating few weeks ... hope I’m nearing the end.” And later added: “Starting to move better.” He confirms this remains the case: He is keen to round the year off in style and in Dubai

The big Englishman returns to action after he aggravated his neck prior to the World Golf Championship’s HSBC Champions and, if he has fond memories of his first visit to this tournament three years ago, they have been whacked about a bit since. He was third back in 2015, moving through the field all week. A year later he opened 69-69 to lie T2 and two back of the halfway lead only for a weekend of 75-77 to ruin everything as he recorded T25. Last year that pattern remained: 72-75-75-79 for T68. So having averaged 69.50 for his first six laps here, he’s then got a mean of 75.50 since. A three-time runner-up this season he was especially frustrated by the last of them and it will be interesting to see how he responds to the next opportunity when it comes along, but it might not be this week.

The 6'6" player tweeted: “Unfortunately had to WD from @HSBC here in Shanghai. Can’t move my neck. Fingers crossed for @PepperellEddie as well.” Wood’s problems might relate to his height and the related difficulty post-travel. Early in his career he had a back problem folllowing a car journey and at the 2016 Open Championship he suffered a neck lock prior to the first round at Royal Troon. There is no word on the long term implications, but history suggests it is something of an ongoing issue but often clears up with treatment.