The European Tour moves towards the Great Wall of China this week, as we travel to Topwin Golf and Country Club for the Volvo China Open.
REWIND
Last year Li Haotong delighted the home fans at Topwin Golf and Country Club as he fired a closing bogey-free 64 to become the second consecutive Chinese winner of the Volvo China Open.
The 20 year old began the day two shots behind Felipe Aguilar and Lucas Bjerregaard but with a large home gallery cheering on his every shot, he reeled in the Chilean and held a share of the lead as he stood on the 17th tee.
Li birdied the penultimate hole to get 22 under and when Aguilar - playing in the group behind - put his tee-shot on the 16th into the water, a par up the last was enough to give Li a three-shot victory and his maiden European Tour title.
With this win, China became the first country to have players win the event in successive years after Wu Ashun's triumph in 2015.
THE FIELD
Celebrating the 23rdedition of the event, a strong field has assembled on the outskirts of Beijing. Last week’s champion Bernd Wiesberger, who secured his fourth European Tour title at the Shenzhen International, will again tee it up alongside a quality field including Chris Wood, Ross Fisher, Fabrizio Zanotti and Thorbjørn Olesen, as they prepare to challenge Li Haotong for the prestigious title.
A man with fond memories of the Volvo China Open is Nicolas Colsaerts. The Belgian claimed his maiden Tour title in this event in 2011 and will be joined by past champions Ashun Wu, Alex Levy, Brett Rumford, Y E Yang, and Jeev Milkha Singh to make up an impressive field. Add to that 15-time European Tour champion Thomas Bjørn and eight-time winner Thongchai Jaidee and there is sure to be some exquisite golf this week for the spectators at Topwin.
Two-time European Tour champion Anthony Wall will have reason to celebrate this week. The 41 year old will be competing in his 500th official European Tour event. He becomes the 11th Englishman in European Tour history to reach this milestone.
THE COURSE
Topwin Golf and Country Club lies in the hills of Huairou, on the North side of Beijing and at the base of The Great Wall of China.
The Championship Course was designed in 2009 by former Masters Champion and Ryder Cup legend Ian Woosnam - the 7,261 yard par-72 course rolls through the countryside among fruit trees, pine trees, and chestnut orchards - with undulating greens and several waters hazards that will pose a tough test for all of the players.
DID YOU KNOW?
· Defending champion Li Haotong will be aiming to become the first player to successfully defend the Volvo China Open.
· With Ashun Wu winning the event in 2015 and Li Haotong a year later, European Tour history was made with two different Chinese players winning the same tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time.
· The Volvo China Open will be played for the 23rdtime, having first been contested in 1995, won by Raul Fretes at the Beijing International Golf Club.
· In the 22 previous stagings of the Volvo China Open there have been 22 different winners, from 14 different countries. China have won the most times with four. Then come Australia and England with three apiece. The host nation’s wins were by Chen Jun (1997), Zhang Lian-wei (2003), Ashun Wu (2015) and Li Haotong (2016).
· The Volvo China Open had the distinction of being the first European Tour event to be played twice in the same season. This occurred in the 2006 season when it was firstl played in November 2005, and won by Paul Casey, and then by Jeev Milkha Singh in April 2006.
· European Tour history was made at the 2013 Volvo China Open. Ye Wo-cheng became the youngest player to compete in a European Tour event, aged just 12 years and 242 days. He broke the record of Guan Tian-lang, who was 13 years and 177 days in this event in 2012.
· Nicolas Colaserts claimed his maiden Tour title in this event in 2011. He came very close to making a successful defence in 2012, finishing second. In 2010 he also finished in the top ten, claiming a tie for eighth. Colsaerts went onto win his second title in another Volvo-sponsored tournament, this time the 2012 Volvo World Match Play Championship. Should he win this week be would become the first player in European Tour history to win his first three European Tour events with the same title sponsor.
· This tournament is Volvo’s longest continuous sponsorship of a professional event, having first put their name to China’s national open in 1995, a span of 23 consecutive seasons. This beats the 21 years Volvo sponsored the Volvo Masters, between 1988-2008 inclusive.
· The 2017 season sees Volvo’s 31stconsecutive year of European Tour sponsorship. The first event was the 1987 Belgian Open.
