By Mai Akkad

World 142nd Chris Wood has shocked the golf world by winning the 2013 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters here this afternoon. The 25-year old led with 15 under par on the third round of the tournament and kept his momentum going till the final day by shooting 18 under par.

“A huge weight lifted off my shoulder,” said Wood during a press conference today about his first European tour victory. “It’s amazing to get my first win here.”

The 6’ 5” golfer, the first Englishman to win the tournament, added that the excitement of going into the final denied him a good night sleep yesterday. 

“I probably went to sleep about midnight and woke up probably three, four, five, six, didn’t want to know what was going on—I didn’t want to get too carried away, yet there’s still 18 holes to go and I knew I was having a lot of support from all of the text messages,” Wood said.

Top-seeded players

Wood beat out top-seeded players including world number four Justin Rose, world number five Louis Oosthuizen and Spanish legend Sergio Garcia to lift the mother of pearl trophy. 

“Well, obviously growing up watching Garcia, and to beat him by a shot on the last is pretty satisfying,” Wood said.

Garcia, the former world number two, and George Coetzee of South Africa tied for second place with a score of 17 under par. 

Thousands of spectators flocked to the Doha Golf Club throughout the championship. Grammy-nominated pop star Natasha Bedingfield also made an appearance with a performance during the off-course entertainment last night.

Congratulating Wood on his win, president of the Qatar Golf Association Hassan Al-Nuaimi presented the trophy and extended an invitation for him to come back next year and defend his title.

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo courtesy of Qatar Masters