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Australian Scott Hend was the PGA Championship leader by a shot at Wentworth in England when he teed off last night.
But his campaign was dented with a double bogey at the first, and went out the door with another double at the seventh plus three bogeys on the outward nine to disappear off the leaderboard and the television coverage,
But Swede Rikard Karlberg and Englishman Chris Wood started their chase in spectacular fashion.
Karlberg bogeyed the first, aced the second, and added four birdies to turn for home with 30 – five under par.
Wood, the big bloke from Bristol standing 196cm, went one better on the outward nine with 29 – six-under with an eagle and four birdies.
They quickly took control. even though Karlberg was playing over two hours ahead of Wood.
Staying in the mix were the US Masters champion Danny Willett, and the 2009 USPGA champion YE Yang, who won a famous victory out-gunning Tiger Woods in the final pairing on that final day.
Willett doubled the third but followed immediately with an eagle at the fourth, and came home with three birdies and two bogeys to finish third at seven-under.
Yang eagled the fourth, birdied the 10th, 11th, and 16th, then shot himself in the foot with a double on 17.
Hend and his playing partner Tyrell Hatton at the tail of the field, both had rounds they would willingly forget – Hend a 78 to finish equal 16th at three-under, Hatton 75 to finish equal seventh at five-under.
Huge crowds followed the final half a dozen golfers and as Wood said later, the crowd added to the tension for all the right reasons.
With Karlberg in the big house at eight-under, Wood knew exactly what had to be done for not only the biggest win of his career but the chance to cement a berth in the European Ryder Cup team.
Having turned in 29 with a four shot lead, bogeys at 10, 14, 16, and 17 with a sole birdie at 11, and Wood’s lead was cut toone – he had topar the last tokeep Karlberg at bay.
And that’s exactly what Wood did for his third win in Europe after the 2012 Qatar Masters and the Lyoness Open in June last year,
The win shot Chris Wood up the world rankings from 54 to 25, and fifth on the Race to Dubai chasing Willett and Rory McIlroy.
The final leaderboard:- par 288:
9-under – Chris Wood -72 70 68 69
8-under – Rikard Karlberg – 69 74 72 65
7-under – Danny Willett – 68 68 76 71
6-under – Romain Wattell – 69 73 70 70
– Thomas Aitken – 71 69 70 70
– Julian Quesne – 69 74 67 72