Dubai doubt for Bristol golf star Wood after injury

Bristol golfer, Chris Wood, had to pull out of this week’s Spanish Masters after injuring his foot in a freak accident.

The 21-year-old now faces a race against time to be fit enough to take his place in the lucrative end of season finale, Dubai World Championships.

Wood slipped while going into the clubhouse at the Club de Campo del Mediterráneo, Castellon in Spain on Thursday afternoon.

And after a few hours his foot became sore and doctors diagnosed that he had torn ligaments.

Wood said: “I misjudged the last step and fell awkwardly. I hit balls on Thursday night but, after going back to the hotel, I couldn’t put any pressure on it.

“It was better yesterday morning but not good enough to carry on. I’ll have an MRI scan in Bristol when I get back and hopefully I can still go to Singapore next week.”

He flew back to Bristol yesterday afternoon to be collected by his father, Richard.

He said: “It was really unfortunate and a complete accident. Chris was walking into the clubhouse after his round and tripped on a step.

“He didn’t think much of it at the time and even went out and practiced during Thursday afternoon.

“But after resting on Thursday night he got up on Friday morning and was barely able to walk.

“He went to the local hospital where they diagnosed torn ligaments in his foot. We don’t know exactly how long he will be out of action for but we are keeping our fingers crossed it’s not too long.”

Wood was due to compete in the Barclays Singapore Open next week followed by the USB Hong Kong Open on November 12 the week before the Dubai World Championships.

Only the top 60 European Tour players are invited into the event which has a total prize fund of £4.5 million with the winner taking away £760,000.

Wood is comfortably in the event. He is currently lying 40th having already amassed nearly £600,000 over the course of the season.