Chris Wood Update

From Jason Sobel's Weekly 18...because I don't want to think of the prose to say:

Ten years ago, Justin Rose finished T-4 in the British Open at Royal Birkdale as an amateur, then turned pro the next day. Last month, in the same tourney at the same venue, Chris Wood finished in a share of fifth place.

After his final round, Wood was asked the inevitable question about whether he had any plans to follow in Rose's footsteps by going pro right away. "Not at the moment, no," he said with a laugh. "I'm having a week off." Well, that's exactly what Wood did ... and then he turned professional.

Eight days after completing his run at Birkdale, Wood, 20, made like Rose a decade earlier and joined the ranks of the play-for-pay. This past week he cashed his first career paycheck, shooting 70-67-68-72 -- including a front-nine 29 on Saturday -- to finish T-18 at the SAS Masters.

That already gives him a leg up on Rose, who missed the cut in his first 21 events as a professional.

Congrats to Wood on the great effort. The kid has a world of talent and hopefully he plays more like Rory McIlroy than Justin Rose.