Volvo China Open
Yuto Katsuragawa shot a Sunday round of 63 to win the ISPS Handa Championship in Japan and earn himself full-time status on the DP World Tour. Katsuragawa won by three strokes over one of our tips, Sebastian Soderberg.
This week, the DP World Tour continues a trek through Asia with the return of the Volvo China Open to the schedule for the first time since 2019.
Soderberg (18-1), last week’s runner-up, is near the top of the odds board again but has company with Tom McKibbin (16-1), who finished T-7 last week in Japan, and Jordan Smith (18-1), who was fifth here in 2019 for the last DP World Tour sanctioned Volvo China Open.
Yannik Paul (22-1) was in the final group for Sunday’s final round last weekend in Japan, but a Sunday round of 76 plummeted him to a T-36.
Bernd Wiesberger (22-1) won here at this course in 2017 at the Shenzhen International.
Haotong Li (25-1) heads the Chinese contingent here this week and was runner-up in this event in 2021.
The Event
The Volvo China Open has been held annually in China since 1995. The event is organized by the China Golf Association and was co-sanctioned by the European Tour from 2004 until 2019. It has also featured as part of the Asian Tour, the OneAsia Tour, the China Tour and the Asia Golf Circuit.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 and 2021 events were not sanctioned by the European Tour and proceeded as sole-sanctioned China Tour events. The 2022 event was scheduled to take place at the end of April on the European Tour but was postponed as restrictions because of the pandemic persisted in China and ultimately not played. In 2023, it returned to the Asian Tour schedule as part of the International Series and in 2024 returns to the European Tour.
The tournament has rotated between numerous courses around China since its inception but has been held at Hidden Grace Golf Club, formerly known as Genzon, since 2019.
The Course
Hidden Grace Golf Club was renamed in 2022 after being known as the Genzon Golf Club.
Neil Haworth put the finishing touches to his redesign in 2008 with the course having originally opened in 1995 and the clearing of trees and foliage, particularly on the front nine, made the course feel a little more open than it was following those original renovations.
The 7,147-yard, par-72 features four mid-length par-5s and three sub-380-yard par-4s that will appeal to the longer hitters, however with Dragon Lake lurking on many of the holes there’s certainly an element of accuracy required to avoid the worst of any trouble.
Both nines follow a similar pattern of generally easier holes to allow players to get a decent start to their rounds before the course bites back a little.
The course is Paspalum throughout from tee through green.
Selections
Tom McKibbin (16-1, DraftKings)
After McKibbin finished T-7 last week in Japan, he surely watched his fellow Holywood Club member Rory McIlroy win in New Orleans.
The man from Northern Ireland has seven top-25 finishes in eight starts this year.
He ranks fourth on the DP World Tour for Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee and should be able to rip this course with the driver.
Bernd Wiesberger (22-1, DraftKings)
Wiesberger won here at Hidden Grace back in 2017.
While he was just T-24 last week in Japan, he led the field for Greens In Regulation and was 12th for Strokes Gained: Approach.
He is a multiple-time winner in Asia and should feel back at home on this course.
Alexander Levy (40-1, DraftKings)
Levy is a two-time winner of the Volvo China Open, including on this course in 2014.
He lost his DP World Tour card at the end of 2023 and has been playing at lower levels recently but has shown promise. He finished seventh and fourth in consecutive weeks on the Professional Golf Tour of India last month, runner-up two weeks ago on the Challenge Tour in Abu Dhabi and ninth last week in the UAE also on the Challenge Tour.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat (40-1, BetRivers)
Aphibarnrat won the Shenzhen International on this course back in 2015.
He was runner-up in Singapore six weeks ago losing in a playoff to Jesper Svensson.
On his way to finishing 30th last week, he ranked second in the field for Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green.
Johannes Veerman (60-1, FanDuel)
Veerman is playing his first event in a month after finishing runner-up at the Hero Indian Open.
He ranks 13th on the DP World Tour for Greens In Regulation and 21st for Strokes Gained: Putting.
Ivan Cantero Gutierrez (90-1, BetMGM)
The Spaniard has two top-6 finishes in his last three events with a T-6 in South Africa at the Jonsson Workwear Open and a T-3 last week in Japan where he led the field for Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee and was fourth for Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green.
He ranks 10th on the DP World Tour for Driving Distance and leads the Tour for Eagles, so he should be able to take full advantage of these par-5s.
