Nine players confirmed their places at the 25thVolvo China Open in May, as Beijing’s Liu Yan Wei produced a stunning second round 65 to finish on six under par and win Domestic Qualifying by just one shot from Zhang Zi Hong at Nansha Golf Club in Guangzhou.
It was a performance that saw the 21-year-old race up the leaderboard from outside the qualifying places and confirm a seventh appearance in China’s national open.
Zhang from Guangdong clinched second place on five under par after the 19-year-old also carded a 65. A further six players finished in a tie for third place two shots adrift on three-under par, including 39-year-old Li Jian Shan from Beijing, who capped off a brilliant comeback from one over par at the half way stage.
Also confirming their places in the RMB 20 million European Tour event, which will be staged at The Genzon Golf Club in Shenzhen from May 2-5, 2019, were Xiao Bo Wen, Ye Jian Feng, Chen Chang Ping and overnight co-leaders Wu Hong Fu and Jin Cheng (all three-under par) with Ma Cheng Yao claiming the ninth and final invite after a two-way play-off against Chen Xiao Zhong.
Although nine players booked their Volvo China Open places, it was Liu who took the title and a cheque for RMB 76,100 after being helped by a remarkable stretch of four consecutive birdies on the back nine.
Liu, who finished in a tie for 66thplace in last year’s Volvo China Open, said: “I was a little surprised to win as yesterday’s score wasn’t so good but I’m obviously very happy to have played well and won. I hadn’t played the course before and just played patiently as there was a lot of wind out there.
“As I said, I didn’t really worry about the score as I didn’t think I was going to win. My iron play was very good on the back nine and the birdie on 18 was obviously very important after two straight bogeys. But it is great news that I’ll be going to play the Volvo China Open in May as Genzon is my favourite course in China and that will give me a lot of confidence.
Runner-up Zhang was also outside the qualifying positions going into the final round, but there was no stopping the towering teenager whose five under par round of 65 included an eagle two on the 11thand four birdies as he bookedd his place at the Volvo China Open - his first appearance as a professional.
“I played the tournament in 2017 as an amateur but not that well. There’s a big difference going from amateur to professional and I have spent most of my first year as a pro trying to adjust. Today I was two over when I was on the fifth and in the past I might have been angry and upset but now I have confidence in myself to get out of bad situations.
“I played Genzon before but I was a lot younger then so I’m looking forward to going back again. It’s great that China hosts such high-level tournaments and I’m excited that I will be able to play alongside the players I usually only see on TV.”
Of the other seven to confirm their places in the Volvo China Open, there was a sense of “mission accomplished” for 27-year-old Ye Jian Feng from Guangdong who maintained his 100% record in qualifying and will line up alongside many of the best players in the world after rounds of 67 and 70 saw him through to his sixth Volvo China Open.
Although 112 players started the competition, only 63 made it through to the final day with the top 25 finishers sharing prize-money of RMB 350,000.
