Making Ryder Cup team a tough task, says Chris Wood

He may have been amidst the familiar sights and sounds at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, but Chris Wood was anything but comfortable, having finished round three tied ninth with an aggregate score of 11-under yesterday.
“It was a scrappy round for me. It is frustrating as I had the opportunity to be among the leaders,” Wood said after finishing the round five stroke behind Oliver Fisher and Eddie Pepperell of England.
Wood had a poor end to the last season, finishing 68th out of 72 in the Nedbank Golf Challenge and 57th out of 60 in the DP World Tour Championship, although he was sick on the course during the final round in Dubai.
And 2018 got off to an even worse start with three consecutive missed cuts before last week’s second place behind good friend Joost Luiten at the NBO Oman Open proved there was some light at the end of the tunnel.
Riding on his confidence-boosting second-place position in Oman, Wood entered the Qatar Masters with the aim to repeat his 2013 title victory and in the process belatedly kick-start his bid for a Ryder Cup return.
“The season has not been great for me. I finished second last week in Oman, which is a good result to be here with some confidence,” he said.
“It’s a nice time to put in a bit of a result the week before you come back to somewhere you’ve won, because whenever you come back somewhere you’ve won or done well there’s always a little bit of confidence you take from that. But after three rounds, I am just hanging in there,” the three-time European Tour title winner said.
Wood, who eagled the 72nd hole to win his first European Tour title at Doha Golf Club in 2013, is currently a lowly 39th in the Ryder Cup standings as he chases a place on the European team which will try to regain the trophy at Le Golf National in Paris in September.
The 30-year-old from Bristol was one of the six rookies who made their debut two years ago, winning one point from his two matches at Hazeltine.
Now having the experience of team golf at the highest level, he is very keen to become a Ryder Cup mainstay but Wood also feels that at the moment he is not there.
“I have been there and tested the action so I want more of it. I don’t want to be somebody who is just going to play one Ryder Cup.
“But, at this juncture, I am a way off from my Ryder Cup chances. I need couple of wins to consolidate my chances,” admits Wood.
He termed his first title victory at the Qatar Masters, which he sealed in impressive style one-stroke win over Sergio Garcia and Geroge Coetzee with three superb shots on the daunting par-5 closing hole, an special one.
“It was pretty special to win it with an eagle. I hadn’t looked at the leaderboard all day, and when I got to the last hole and knew I was there or thereabouts, although I didn’t actually realise what I needed to do until I walked in the green, just before I hit my putt.
“I think I actually felt the weight lift off my shoulders when that ball disappeared in the hole.
Every time I played the 18th, I remember that shot I hit there to win about 10 feet. It’s always gonna live long with me that one,” he said.