17 events down, 31 to go. This week's European Tour event takes place at Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club in Shanghai, China. With many players making the short journey from last week's venue in Shenzhen, who are you going to select for your Fantasy Race To Dubai team? Here are five players our stats guru has hand selected for this week's Volvo China Open.
Emiliano Grillo
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The young Argentine may just be the most underrated player on The European Tour. Entering this week’s Volvo China Open, Grillo has finished in the money at his last 15 European Tour events with a stroke average of just 69.6 over that stretch. His consistent play tee to green has seen him feature high on the leaderboard on several occasions this season, notably last week at the Shenzhen International and the CommercialBank Qatar Masters earlier in the year. Away from The European Tour, the 22 year old won his national open in Argentina at the end of last year and finished second at the Puerto Rico Open on the US PGA Tour last month.
David Howell
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He may be turning 40 next month, but David Howell is enjoying a return to the type of golf that saw the Englishman feature on the 2004 and 2006 European Ryder Cup teams. Regarded as one of the best putters on tour, Howell has finished in the top 35 on the leaderboard in his last five events including a fourth place finish last week in Shenzhen and a second place finish at the Joburg Open last month. During those events, Howell has shot in the 60s in 12 of 20 rounds and has been over par just twice.
Alvaro Quiros
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Quiros surged up the leaderboard on Sunday in Shenzhen firing a final round 63, the lowest round of the week by two shots. It capped off a very good run of form for the Spaniard, who has finished in the top 25 in four of his last five starts this season. Everyone knows about Quiros’ immense length off the tee but the 32 year old has been working hard on his all round game, evident by the number of greens he has hit this season (280 of 360, 78%). Quiros also finished third at the 2014 Volvo China Open, his best finish of the season.
Julien Quesne
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The Frenchman may have been overshadowed by his fellow countrymen in recent months but Julien Quesne certainly has the tools and the form to compete this week. He finished fourth last week in Shenzhen thanks largely to an impressive final round 65. It was his second top ten in four starts and fourth top 30 finish of the season. In three previous appearances at the Volvo China Open, the two-time European Tour winner has broken par in nine of ten rounds and finished in the top 20 twice. If he’s in contention on Sunday, beware, Quesne is 17 under par for his last three final rounds.
Maximilian Kieffer
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Kieffer may not yet be a household name on The European Tour but the young German quietly goes about putting in solid performances. Having lost out in the joint-longest play-off in European Tour history at the 2013 Open de España, where he was defeated on the ninth extra hole by Rafaël Jacquelin, Kieffer appears primed to notch his first European Tour crown. He has finished in the money in each of his last ten starts and has finished in the top 50 in each event he’s played this season, included top 30s at his last four. His 70.06 stroke average is third best of those who’ve played more than 30 rounds.
So what do you think, time to change your Fantasy team? Make sure and make your team changes before Thursday via theFantasy Race To Dubaihomepage.
