Chris Wood stepped into the shoes of Justin Rose yesterday by winning the silver medal for leading amateur in a performance that took him into contention for the Open Championship itself.
Chris Wood stepped into the shoes of Justin Rose yesterday by winning the silver medal for leading amateur in a performance that took him into contention for the Open Championship itself.
Playing alongside runner-up Ian Poulter, the 20-year-old from Bristol was one shot from the lead after 10 holes and his surname just one s' short of sending a shiver of fear down the leaderboard, before a run of three bogeys set him back.
He finished with a two-over-par 72 for a 10-over aggregate of 290 and joint fifth place that will give him a start in next year's Open at Turnberry whether or not he remains an amateur.
At 6ft 5ins tall, Wood is said to be slimmer than Greg Norman's pre-Open chances. He plans to remain amateur at least until after next year's Walker Cup in the US, but that may change when he considers the implications of his performance during the week off that he plans to take.
After Rose finished fourth 10 years ago by pitching in for a 3 at the last, he immediately turned professional and missed his first 21 cuts, but is now European No.1 and poised to make his Ryder Cup debut.
"It's been the best week of my life and the support I've had from family and friends has been tremendous," said Wood, who paid tribute to the English Golf Union, who have sent him to play in Australia, Argentina, Mexico and Russia.
"You get experience as if you are playing as a professional and we have great coaching," he added. "The standard of amateur golf is so high that many of the guys who turned pro this year or last are doing well. They've come straight out of the England team."
Wood was a promising football striker and joined Bristol City's academy before he sustained a knee injury and decided at 15 to pursue a career in golf. He is the English Golf Union's order-of-merit champion for 2007.
The battle for the silver medal was a two-horse race.Thomas Sherreard, 20, from Leicester, and a psychology student at Georgia Stet university in Atlanta, won a bronze for his efforts.
In the great Birkdale amateur tradition started by Rose, his finish was nothing if not spectacular, pitching in from 60 yards for an eagle 3 at the 17th. He followed that with a 20-foot putt for a birdie 3 at the last for a round of two-over-par 72.
"I think I could sell that finish for quite a bit of money," laughed Sherreard, a former captain of the England boys team and runner-up to Scotland's Jordan Findlay in the 2004 British Boys Championship at Cowny, Wales.
"Just being here on Sunday is absolutely amazing. I've been watching this for countless years, dreaming of walking up the last in the Open."
That set Wood the target of a 14-over aggregate of 294 which at that point, at nine over par after six holes, he was not certain to beat. He promptly holed for a 2 at the seventh to go eight over, raising the possibility that he might be the first amateur since Bobby Jones in 1930 to win the old claret jug as well.
Wood followed that with a birdie 3 at the ninth, where he hit a nine iron to three feet, before those three bogeys.
"I thought then it probably wasn't my day," he said. The ovation he received at the last put a different complexion on that.
