Mikko Ilonen will this week aim to add China’s national Open to his resumé and so enhance his impressive record in Volvo-sponsored tournaments.
Ilonen has been drawn in the marquee group for the first two rounds alongside defending champion Alex Levy of France and teenage sensation Li Hao-tong, who came agonisingly close to joining Liang Wen-chong and Zhang Lian-wei in the list of Chinese winners on The European Tour when he lost in the play-off in last week’s Shenzhen International.
Ilonen won the Volvo World Match Play Championship at the London Golf Club last year, beating Henrik Stenson in the final to claim his fifth European Tour title, and the Finn is now hopeful of securing successive victories in Volvo tournaments at Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club.
By his own admission Ilonen should perhaps already have the Volvo China Open on his CV, having been within one stroke of the lead going into the final round in 2010 and 2013, before eventually finishing in second and tied fourth places behind YE Yang and Brett Rumford respectively.
Ilonen also finished in a tie for eighth 12 months ago to record his third top ten in four appearances in the Volvo China Open, and he will now seek to extend his recent run in the 21st edition of the RMB 20 million tournament.
Ilonen said: “I’ve had some good success in Volvo tournaments in recent years. Obviously I won the World Match Play last year, and I’ve come pretty close to winning the Volvo China Open a few times. I ran Brett [Rumford] very close two years ago, and should have finished better than eighth last year but didn’t have a good final round. So hopefully I can keep the good run going this week.
“The course is in very good nick. The fairways are quite firm, which I like, and the greens are perfect. The biggest challenge will be positioning your approach shots in the right place on the green because if you get that wrong, you’re going to leave yourself with some very tricky putts. But if my iron play is good, I should set up some birdie chances and hopefully I can take more than my fair share.”
As well as Tomson Shanghai Pudong’s testing putting surfaces Ilonen will also have the dreaded jetlag to deal with this week, having spent some time competing in America before flying to China.
After narrowly missing the cut in the Masters Tournament, the World Number 67 returned to his native Finland before heading east to the world’s most populous city, and his body clock is yet to adjust to the new time zone.
He said: “The challenge for the next couple of days is to get over the jetlag, because I only flew back to Europe from America last week, then spent a few days at home before flying out to China. So the preparation hasn’t been ideal but that’s part and parcel of life as a professional golfer, so I should be used to it by now and I won’t be using it as an excuse. I feel like my game is in good enough shape to compete this week, so hopefully I can catch up on some sleep tonight and get off to a fast start in the morning.”
