Forget the Olympic rings, it’s a wedding ring that Chris Wood will be focusing on this summer. “My stag do is the week of the Olympics,” said the 28-year-old, whose victory in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth has put him in the hunt for an Olympic spot in Rio. “We could possibly postpone that but not the wedding which is the week after."
What Wood would love to say ‘I do’ to is a place in the European team for September’s Ryder Cup at Hazeltine. He’s certainly given himself a huge opportunity after holding his nerve over the West Course on Sunday to clinch the biggest victory of his career.
Having hoisted himself up to a career high of 22nd in the world rankings, Wood has also barged his way into the automatic qualifying berths for Team Europe. He played under Darren Clarke, the European skipper, in the EurAsia Cup at the start of the year and the 6ft 6in Wood is hoping to make a few more big impressions over the coming months and rubber stamp his Ryder Cup place.
“That's obviously the biggest thing I'll take from this win,” said Wood. “That's all I ever wanted this season was just to give myself a chance to try and qualify, and this has done it.
“There are three or four months of golf left to play where other players can win other big events to knock me out, so I've got to keep pushing and keep pushing. We played that EurAsia Cup at the start of the year and Darren was captain there. The videos he played in our team room, they give you goose bumps, and things like that really work for me. To have have a chance of qualifying would just be amazing and it’s something I need to start getting my head around.”
Following on from Danny Willett’s Masters victory in Augusta, Wood continued English golf’s purple patch with his conquest in the PGA event
“I've grown up with Dan since we were about 13 or 14 through England amateur golf and there's no doubt that seeing players like that win pushes you,” added Wood on his major-winning compatriot. “I'm not somebody who needs to be motivated. I can motivate myself. But when you see other players win events like that, it does give you a kick. You say to yourself ‘I need some of that’, the feeling of winning a golf tournament that you can't describe.”
On the other side of the Atlantic, meanwhile, Jordan Spieth got that winning feeling back as he revelled in the home comforts of his native Texas and won the Dean & Deluca Invitational at Colonial.
Unlike his Masters misery in April, there would be no back-nine collapse as he reeled off five birdies coming in to surge to victory. Spieth won’t forget that Augusta anguish but he keeps getting reminded of it. As he walked between the ninth and 10th tees during the final round, someone in the crowd called out ‘remember the Masters Jordan’.
"I heard it a few times in the crowd today and that's not fun to hear,” he said. “But I’m already looking back thinking that this will be a very important day that I'll never forget, to get back on top and be in the winner's circle. "It's great when you're on top, and it's not fun on the other side of it, but it makes me really enjoy a moment like this even more.”
Much closer to home, the Scottish Women’s Amateur Championship gets underway at West Kilbride today with defending champion Clara Young aiming for back-to-back titles.
The 19-year-old’s decorated North Berwick counterpart, Catriona Matthew, managed to win three national titles during her amateur days and Young is hoping to get her name on the trophy for a second time. Having just returned from the University of Missouri, Young, who was also a runner-up in the 2013 Scottish Championship, has been reacquainting herself with the links game in preparation for her defence.
“I've been trying to simulate similar 'linksy' conditions while I practice,” she said. “With some shorter risk and reward holes, I think West Kilbride will be a great matchplay course. Like most links courses, if the wind blows it could be quite a challenge.”
Eilidh Briggs, the former Scottish girls champions, and Lauren Whyte head into the 36-hole strokeplay qualifying stage in good spirits after they shared third in the St Rule Trophy at the weekend while Rachel Walker, beaten in the final by Young last year, returns for another stab at the title.
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