“My anxiety is terrible” – Former Ryder Cup star welcomes back to Turkey form
You would think Chris Wood was 2016 Ryder Cup player Chris Wood who was finishing his career. Last season, he worked hard in 13 challenges, advanced in eight of them, but earned only €11,000.
On the DP World Tour, his competition seems to have been off the cliff since 2019 and has been the midstream of the tour for the past decade as he struggles to rank in the top 200 on the currency list. This year, he was a past winner in Qatar. Prior to that, he was in the final stages of Q school, where he failed to do so in the past two days.
But Wood popped up this week on the opening of Turkish Airlines' open invitation, an inspiring move for the tour as he offered the most inspiring story of the week, 64 times of the closing ceremony, offered him a seventh place and earned a salary of 56,684 euros – his last top ten in the top ten was 2018 km.
Wood is one of the absolutely good guys in the game, he has no side and he is still a great amateur character when he is.
In 2008, he ranked fifth in the Open at Royal Birkdale and is still on the UPAID team. The following year, he might easily win the fuchsia jug – if he played the 72nd hole of the playoffs with Tom Watson and Stewart Cink.
In 2016, he won the Lucatrive PGA title at Wentworth and played on Darren Clarke's Ryder Cup team, where he and Justin Rose won their four-man combination before losing to Dustin Johnson in singles.
Wood is still only 37 years old, but he has really struggled over the past six years.
“It’s so scary to be honest. I just feel like I’ve been in hell since 2019.
“I’ve been working quietly and quietly with a great team, and yes, it’s a long road to be honest, but, yes, never lost my belief in myself. Obviously, there were days when you’ve been harder than some, but the fire in my stomach was always there.
“I’m going to rely on invitations this year, and my old manager, Stuart Cage, called me last Tuesday night and said this week, I’m ready. I’m doing well at home and the last minute call isn’t a problem. I played with Oly Wilson a few days ago and he was asking me how to do it, and I think I’m ready.
Wood has been struggling with long-term anxiety in recent years, but hopefully it will be a huge move to get Bristol players back on the tour.
“My anxiety is so terrible, so the tour is great, the medical team really helped me, hopefully it’s like the first step forward, anyone who wants me to attend the event, please answer the phone because I need some start this year.
“Even if I feel like I really believe I still have games, the biggest thing is that I’ve seen all the shots and I know I can play the shots, I just can’t play them.”
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