Wood in sight of first European Tour title

RIGHT BEHIND IT: England’s Chris Wood lines up a putts during the third round of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at the Doha Golf Club. PICTURE: Jayaram

By ND Prashant/Doha

England’s Chris Wood shot a stunning third round 64 yesterday to leap-frog a strong field and give himself a decent chance of winning his first European Tour title at the $2.5mn Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

Wood, who started the day on 7-under, shot an amazing seven birdies and an eagle for a 64 for an aggregate of 15 under par 201 to lead the trio of Simon Khan, Alexander Noren and Michael Campbell by three shots heading into today’s first round.

Five birdies in his front nine of 31 provided Wood with the much needed momentum, with an astonishing eagle putt on the tenth coming as a tremendous boost.

Wood then dropped a shot at the 12th but held his nerve and regained his touch with birdies on the 14th and 16th to finish on 15-under par 201 aggregate.

“I played pretty nicely. I wouldn’t say it’s one of my best (rounds). One of my better ones but not my best; I played very solid, similar to the way I played on Wednesday, the first round. Shot 67, could have been a few better,” said a delighted Wood.

The 25-year-old revealed that the results are coming due to the hard work he has been putting in.

“It’s because of the hard work really. I’m making progress every year, slow progress, but every year I’m improving and that’s all I can do really. Eventually, I’m going to start winning tournaments and so I just want to keep doing things I’m doing,” said the Bristolian, who turned pro in 2008.

Wood’s compatriot Khan, Sweden’s Noren and New Zealand’s Campbell are all tied in second spot with 12-under. Spanish ace Sergio Garcia and South Africa’s Branden Grace are tied third with 11-under.

Campbell carded his third successive four-under but was still not very pleased with his showing saying, “Once again 4-under after ten holes and just couldn’t hole a putt on the last eight holes. Holed a chip but not a putt. So, yes, it’s been frustrating. Last time at this time of the year, I was packing my games and going home. So I can’t complain about that. Being three shots behind with a round to go is definitely a nice situation to be in.”

Garcia also felt he could have scored better had his third shot on the 18th hole not landed in the water. “I can be a little bit disappointed with the way I played. Even the last shot, I thought I hit a nice shot, tried to draw it a little bit with a 9-iron and the wind just didn’t hold it all and unfortunately went in the water.

“We managed to make a good up-and-down for bogey and you know hopefully the putts that didn’t wanted to go in today will go in tomorrow,” said the Spaniard.

Overnight leader Martin Kaymer, however, struggled with his form. Two bogeys over the front nine setting hit him back considerably. He is currently tied fourth with three others – England’s Gary Lockerbie, Anthony Wall and Steve Webster.

“Very disappointing. I thought I hit more good golf shots today but putting was very tough.

“I missed a putt from a foot today and one from two feet. It was just difficult to stay positive on the golf course.”

Marcus Fraser, another overnight joint leader, also suffered two bogeys over the first nine holes to slip down the leader board.

However, the biggest disappointment of the day was the showing Portugal’s Ricardo Santos, who lost his way after showing a lot of promise in the first two rounds. Santos, who started the day nine-under played well over the first six holes. But bogeys on the 7th, 12th, 14th and 18th holes and double bogeys on the 8th and 15th let him down.

SCORES 

201 - Chris Wood (ENG) 67-70-64, 204 - Simon Khan (ENG) 67-73-64, Alexander Noren (SWE) 71-67-66, Michael Campbell (NZL) 68-68-68, 205 -Brenden Grace (RSA) 70-68-67, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 69-66-70, 206 - Jbe Kruger (RSA) 70-68-68, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 68-68-70, George Coetzee (RSA) 69-67-70, Marcus Fraser (AUS) 68-67-71, 207 - Steve Webster (ENG) 69-71-67, Anthony Wall (ENG) 66-71-70, Gary Lockerbie (ENG) 67-69-71, Martin Kaymer (GER) 68-67-72, 208 - Jason Dufner (USA) 71-70-67, Victor Dubuisson (FRA) 68-72-68, Miko Ilonen (FIN) 71-69-68, Loius Oosthuizen (RSA) 71-69-68, Henrik Stenson (SWE) 70-69-69, Lorenzo Gagli (ITA) 68-71-69, Andreas Harto (DEN) 68-69-71, Garth Mulroy (RSA) 69-68-71, 209 - Richard Green (AUS) 68-73-68, Peter Hanson (SWE) 68-73-68, Brett Rumford (AUS) 67-73-68, Raphael Jacquelin (FRA) 73-67-69, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP) 69-70-70, Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 70-69-70, Anders Hansen (DEN)  68-71-70, Felipe Aguilar (CHI) 69-67-73.