Bristol’s Chris Wood stands out in a crowd towering at 6ft 5ins - this week the winner of the Silver Medal at this year's Open Championship will be tackling some of the giants of European golf and one of the brightest prospects in the world.

Four members of Europe’s beaten Ryder Cup side are in Spain this week for the Castello Masters, which is being hosted by the country's most successful golfer today - Sergio Garcia.

And the 27-year-old, who has not won on European soil since 2005 has persuaded US Tour Championship winner Camilo Villegas to venture across the pond from his Florida base for the first time this week.

But for Chris Wood, who has been using StrokeAverage.com to analyse his stats and performance since his days as an amateur in the English Elite squad, there is a more pressing matter than trying a different experience, or in Henrik Stenson’s case, the chance to make up ground on fellow Swede Robert Karlsson in the race to be crowned European number one..

At last week’s Portuguese Masters, Chris Wood produced his best performance in his seven appearances on Tour since turning pro in the aftermath of his heroic fifth place alongside Jim Furyk at Royal Birkdale back in June.

But despite his top 10 finish in Vilamoura at Oceanico’s Victoria Club, Chris Wood is facing up to a trip the second stage of the European Tour Qualifying School next week.

Only a second place finish at the Club de Campo del Mediterraneo this week would take care of his playing card for 2009.

But that is a big expectation for the 21-year-old who won the Russian Amateur Championship in 2007.

In fact, having used up his seven sponsors' invites to play on Tour this summer after turning pro - the maximum allowed under its rules – Chris Wood considered turning down a place in this week’s tournament, having earned a spot via last week’s top 10 finish.

Wood said during practice this week: “Finishing in the top 10 meant I qualified for this week but with qualifying school coming up shortly I was weighing up whether to play this one or not.

“But I decided I've got nothing to lose and it will serve as good practice for qualifying if nothing else.

“I'm feeling good. I had an early flight yesterday at 6am from Gatwick and I live in Bristol so I had to get up at 1am, which was pretty awful.

“I had a practice round yesterday afternoon and felt pretty tired but I played again today and I'm feeling okay now.

“Last week was great because it's given me a lot of confidence and hopefully I can carry on that sort of form this week."

Ironically, if Chris Wood had not signed for Chubby Chandler’s ISM group after coming within a whisker of matching Justin Rose’s achievement in the Open at Royal Birkdale 10 years earlier, he would have spent last week in South Australia playing for England in the Eisenhower Trophy at the World Amateur Team Championship., at Royal Adelaide Golf Club.

Scotland captured the trophy for the first time in the competition’s 50-year history, to create a unique double after Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren’s victory at the World Cup in China last December.

The Eisenhower has been graced by many great names down the years including Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Villegas played three times for Columbia - the last in 2002 and six years on the flamboyant Central American, who finished second in the FedEx Cup is experimenting in Europe in what could be a growing trend for the USPGA’s leading players tempted to cash in on the ground-breaking Race to Dubai, which begins after next week’s final Volvo Masters at Valderrama.

Chris Wood will just be hoping that he gatecrashes the party even if he has to come through two stages of Qualfying Schoool to do it.

Golf article end.