A decade on from playing in a Ryder Cup, Chris Wood wants to reunite with his former teammates and rivals on LIV Golf. Ben Parsons caught up with the Englishman…
It’s been a long time since Hazeltine in 2016 and Chris Wood fancies a mini Ryder Cup reunion.
Wood was one of the six first-timers in Darren Clarke’s transitional European team which was trounced by the dominant Americans in Minnesota almost a decade ago.
And while the towering Englishman’s career has taken a slightly different path to his teammates and rivals since then, nine of the 24 players who competed in that one-sided match have gone on to compete in LIV Golf tournaments.
The standout name in the field at this week’s LIV Golf Promotions event in Florida, Wood now wants to become the latest from the Class of 2016 to make hay on the league.
“A lot of players on both sides from the Ryder Cup I played in are playing LIV,” Wood tells TG. “Thomas Pieters, [Lee] Westwood, [Ian] Poulter, [Patrick] Reed, [Phil] Mickelson – one of the big reasons that I’m keen about this situation is to be playing with players like that again. That would help push my game on again.”
Before his debut in European colours, Wood was one of the game’s revered ball-strikers. The gentle giant from Bristol was realising his huge amateur potential by reaching a high of 22nd in the Official World Golf Rankings and winning the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
But after those highs of 2016 came a painful and, at times, traumatic decline. Crippled by chronic anxiety and burnout, Wood’s game soon spiralled into a state of “utter destruction” and he eventually lost his DP World Tour card in 2022. The intervening years have been spent in the wilderness.
Wood did not play a single event in 2023, instead staying at home and prioritised his mental health. Since returning to the fairways, he has struggled to gain status on a circuit in which he can rebuild his career.
But the recently revived MENA Tour – a Dubai-based development circuit offering $100,000 prize funds – has offered a pathway to a player simply desperate for starts.
And after missing the cut in the final stage of DP World Tour Q School by one stroke, Wood admits he had to “swallow some pride” by dropping down several levels.
Yet, regardless of the standard, winning breeds confidence and Wood secured his MENA Tour card with a six-shot victory at a 54-hole qualifier at Troia Golf Course in Portugal.
Several weeks later the 38-year-old won his first event in nine years, claiming a one-stroke victory at the Rolear Algarve Classic, where he dropped only a single shot across his three rounds.
“It’s not like a rock-bottom moment because that’s been over the last few years,” he says. “But I’ve got to swallow a pill here and go and play.
“I think how I’ve performed at them has shown that I’ve very much done that and I’ve gone down with the right attitude and put in some good scores. That’s exactly what I was hoping to get from it.”
LIV’s upcoming qualifying event is a big step up in level and comes with a tantalising prize.
In total, 80 players will assemble at the Black Diamond Ranch layout in Lecanto, fighting for three contracts on offer for the league’s 2026 season and a $1.5 million purse.
It was an opportunity too good for Wood to turn down.
“Put it this way,” he says, “I don’t want to sit around and wait for a phone to ring this year. I want to get out and play, wherever that is. The last year or two I’ve not wanted to push to play because I’ve known I’m not quite in the right spot, but now I feel like I am and that’s all I’m doing. I really want to push to try and play, wherever it is.
“I’m trying to put together a run of golf really so that I’m not going into events that could change your season and your career again cold. I want to be ready. If the phone rings, I want to have played some golf so I’m not way behind the eight ball.
“Every event seems to bring up new levels mentally that it was hard to see myself reaching again. I’m really pleased with the progress I’ve made on that side of things and that’s allowed me to play better golf, there’s no doubt about that. The golf ball is telling you it’s happy from the technical work you’re doing, but it’s got to go hand in hand with allowing that to happen mentally. So I feel like I’ve made huge strides.
“The last few years have been so tough that it doesn’t matter where you’re playing. I knew I was going to suffer. But now I feel like I’m not going to suffer. My game is getting closer to where I know that wherever I play, I’ll compete. That’s good enough for me at the moment. My time will come with wherever it leads me and I am really proud of it. But it’s not there yet because I’ve not got any status. So that’s what it’s got to come down to.”
Wood understands that claiming one of the three golden LIV tickets will be a tall order. Granted, the field is evidently devoid of players of his pedigree and some US-based players have stayed away given the threat of a one-year suspension by the PGA Tour.
But several emerging talents and Asian Tour regulars have made an opportunistic trip Stateside, with plenty of competition rounds under their belt. There is extra incentive beyond the LIV contracts too, with the top-10 finishers guaranteed entry into every International Series event in 2026.
In preparation, Wood spent the festive period braving the golf course in four layers and a bobble hat in brisk England, but also recalibrating his swing with coaches at his local golf facility. The hard work has paid off as he feels has mentally unlocked something within his game.
Even so, Wood will need to be switched on from the start on Thursday due to LIV’s unforgiving format. After each of the first two rounds of the 72-hole stroke play event, the scores reset, with only the top-20 and ties advancing to the next stage. A 36-hole weekend shootout will then determine the winners of the cards.
“The format this week is brutal,” he admits. “It’s such a long shot but hopefully I can get a few rounds of competitive golf in.
“It’s more a case of not going away from events deflated, disappointed and hard on yourself. It’s more like, ‘What am I trying to get out of this week?’ That gets me towards being in the right frame of mind. Your acceptance levels go up through the roof and that’s sort of where I’m working towards really.
“The results are massively secondary. But it’s a results game, isn’t it? So obviously I’d love to win the event, but if I can continue in the vein that I have been doing mentally, then I’ll be really happy.”