Willie Wood - August 22, 2012

• By Morning Drive Team
• Aug 22, 2012 7:20 AM ET

Wood, who had a decorated amateur and collegiate career, earned his first Champions Tour win on Sunday in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open. It had been a very long time since he had won anywhere and Wood admitted that he began to doubt his game about 10 years ago when he had to go play the Web.com Tour. The competition in professional golf is so strong that you have to perform incredibly well just to make a living. He even talked to his father about possibly ending his professional golf career but his Dad talked him out of it.

He said that he was calm for most of the back nine on Sunday in New York and a big reason for that was that he was playing with his good friend Brad Faxon. They spent most of the day talking about their families but when he got to the 18th green, he got a little nervous because he knew he had to make that putt to get into a playoff. It was such a special moment to win again and the fact that everything ended up happening the way it did made it even more special.

There are five tournaments remaining on the Champions Tour schedule and he is now inside the top 30 on the Charles Schwab Cup Points List. His goal for the rest of the year is to finish the season in the top 30 so he can qualify for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

When asked about his T18 finish in the 2012 True South Classic on the PGA TOUR, he noted that he played with Jason Gore and realized just how much further the current players on the PGA TOUR hit the ball in comparison to when he played on the PGA TOUR. He won the True South Classic on the PGA TOUR and he was playing this year because he believed that he could play well there and he also hoped to be able to play in more PGA TOUR events but now that he has won on the Champions Tour, he intends to play on the Champions Tour full-time. 

He used to room with Brandel Chamblee on the PGA TOUR and commented that Brandel is the only player he has ever seen actually make a sound of any kind during his downswing. While Wood does not know if Brandel still does this, it was certainly something that he cannot forget about his former roommate.