Following the season’s first Major and one of the most exciting Masters in recent history, a number of its contenders are set to head east for the 2012 Volvo China Open.
Sweden’s Peter Hanson leads the charge after his excellent performance saw him finish in a tie for third place at Augusta. Several other players who were at the heart of the action in Augusta are also heading to Binhai Lake Golf Club in Tianjin.
Hanson went into the final round of the Masters with a one-shot lead and, after a poor start to the day finished strongly with two birdies in his closing four holes to share third place with Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood and Matt Kuchar.
Three shots back in seventh place was Englishman Ian Poulter, another who is looking forward to getting back on the winning trail in Tianjin, from April 19-22.
Francesco Molinari was in contention early on at Augusta and will be keen to do even better at the Volvo China Open, while former Open Champion Paul Lawrie was another who had a great week which included a hat-trick of birdies at the end of the second round.
Paul Casey is still looking to get back to his best following his shoulder injury and will be keen to improve on his Masters performance, as will fellow Englishman Simon Dyson who won the Volvo China Open back in 2000.
The field also has a great mix of the experienced and the young with 2004 Open champion Todd Hamilton from the USA and eight-time European Tour Order of Merit winner Colin Montgomerie combining with 15-year-old Volvo China Junior Championship winner, Chen Ze Shan Chuan. Home crowd favourite, Liang Wen Chong, will be hoping to make it a double celebration as his wife gave birth to the couple’s third child a few days ago. His place in the starting line-up is therefore confirmed and he will be keen to mark the event with a strong finish in his National Open.
Per Ericsson, President of Volvo Event Management, was pleased to see so many of next week’s field doing well at Augusta. “We have been saying for some time that the Volvo China Open is getting stronger every year. Last year we had Sergio García and Pádraig Harrington who both made their mark at the Masters. To see some of this year’s star names such as Hanson, Poulter, Molinari and Lawrie all appearing high up on the leaderboard, really confirms this. Many people around the world will have followed their progress and will want to see how they get on at the beautiful and challenging new Tianjin Binhai Lake course. Having attracted the strongest ever field for this, the 18th Volvo China Open, we are now looking forward to showcasing the Volvo brand and its association with first-class quality at what is sure to be an extremely exciting event.”
With four golfers in the top-25 at the Masters and plenty of others keen to prove themselves, next week’s Volvo China Open is going to be one of the most hotly contested in the history of the championship.
