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Thursday, July 24, 2008, 00:01
Mitchell has coached Wood since he was a gangly youth of 14 – and insists this week's incredible display at the Open at Royal Birkdale was no fluke.
Wood won the silver medal, awarded to the leading amateur, and finished fifth overall, beating most of the world's greatest players.
Mitchell told The Forester: “Chris came to me six or seven years ago and we've worked together ever since. He'll be 21 in November.
“Our plan is to be as good as Tiger or better. We want to raise the bar.
“Chris is very level headed, he's fed up at the moment because the phone keeps ringing.
“He's devastated to miss out on the £150,000 he would have got in prize money had he been a professional, but I thought he'd do well. I backed him at 1,000-1 and so did lots of other people who know how good he is.”
Mitchell shared a Southport hotel room with Wood at last week's Open and revealed his main job was keeping everything 'normal'.
“I kept waking up at 4.30am because my bed wasn't that comfortable, but I didn't even put the TV on because I didn't want to do stuff out of the ordinary,” he said.
“We spent hours on the range and Chris relaxed at night by watching DVDs of Only Fools and Horses. We went for a run together on Saturday morning.
“Conditions on the course were difficult, but it was all about taking one shot at a time.
“Chris hadn't played at Birkdale before but he's played lots of links golf and we prepared properly. I wanted to do things right because it was the biggest opportunity of my life too.
“We went to win the silver medal. Chris felt he could have putted a lot better than he did. On the way home we talked about the four days and he felt he'd played a mediocre game.
“I felt he could have won the tournament if a few more putts had dropped. He needed a 65 or 66 on the final day.
“The crowd really got behind him, which helped. I was running around after him, along with his mother, and we were both screaming.”
Paul was born and raised in Cinderford, where his family still live, and attended Heywood School. He became a member of the Forest of Dean Golf Club at 13 and was club champion by the time he was 16. He said: “I got into the game watching Nick Faldo win the Open at Muirfield in 1987.
“I went into the garage looking for something to hit and found an old croquet stick. I spent a month hitting a ball around the field by our home. My parents then bought me a six iron and I carried on from there. I was hooked.”
WORLD AT HIS FEET: Chris Wood at the Open. INSET: His Forest coach, Paul Mitchell.
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