Former Ryder Cup star opens up on trauma after inspirational return

Chris Wood fought back the tears as he reflected on years of trauma after an inspirational return from the wilderness at the Turkish Airlines Open. 

A European Ryder Cup player back in 2016, Wood has spent the past few years tormented by chronic anxiety and took 12 months away from the game when his mental health spiralled in 2023.

Marooned without anywhere to play after his comeback, Wood needed to take advantage of a rare sponsor’s invite to the returning DP World Tour event here in Antalya. He did that and some.

The first signs of a resurgence came on Friday, when Wood fired a four-under par 67 to make his first DP World Tour cut in almost three years.

On Sunday, though, it got a whole lot better for this gentle giant from Bristol.

A sensational seven-under par 64 lifted Wood inside the top-ten of a tournament on the formerly European Tour for the first time since 2018.

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Walking off the 18th green, Wood was completely overcome with what he had achieved.

“It’s been horrendous,” he said. “Since 2019 I just feel like I’ve been going through hell.

“To put a score together is great but I wanted to feel like I know my game’s there. Not just put a score together on one day and I genuinely feel like I’m starting to do that now.

“It’s been a long old road but I never lost belief in myself. You have days where it feels harder but the fire in my belly has always been there.

“My anxiety has been horrendous and the tour have been good. The medical team have really helped me. This is hopefully the first little step and anyone that wants me there, please pick up the phone because I need a few starts this year.”

Wood knows that is only a beginning. A top-ten here, however, gets him a place in the Soudal Open in Belgium in two weeks’ time.

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“I’m just trying to stay on my mental task really,” he explained. “I’ve had so much trauma and I don’t want to go back there. If we can make the mental task the most important thing, you can shoot 75 or 65 and I can tick the box that I’ve done well.

“We’re doing some good things but it’s no good if I only play one more event. I need some starts. Hopefully this is putting my name there more and people remember.

“I need a bit of help, obviously.”

Nobody in golf would begrudge him that.

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.