Jorge Campillo finally broke his maiden last week which was a longtime coming. Will that motivate another first-timer to win this week in China or will an experienced vet establish their dominance?
The course this week is Genzon GC which was used during the 2014 Volvo China open and was also featured at the Shenzhen International from 2015 thru 2017.
Neil Haworth designed this in the mid 90s. He is the same architect responsible for Sheshan International (WGC-HSBC Champions).
Based on the quotes from past editions one thing is clear, this course is TIGHT off the tee. There is also a lot of water in play.
Distance is always an advantage but a quote from Bernd I found interesting was, “the front nine you hit one driver and then on the back nine there is a lot of water on it but you hit a lot of drivers.”
You can also have a look at the Fantasy Golfanac for some more quotes from the event.
For turf, we have paspalum from wall-to-wall.
Let’s dive into some past results to see who might fit the course.
Top Performers on Grainy Greens (since 2015)
Alexander Levy
Jorge Campillo
Hao Tong Li
Bernd Wiesberger
Ross Fisher
Victor Dubuisson
Fabrizio Zanotti
Julian Suri
Jason Scrivener
Alexander Bjork
Top Performers on Par 72s (since 2015)
Alexander Bjork
Bernd Wiesberger
Hao Tong Li
Ross Fisher
Victor Dubuisson
Alexander Levy
Jorge Campillo
Thomas Detry
Jordan Smith
Fabrizio Zanotti
Top Performers in Asia (since 2015)
Alexander Levy
Matthias Schwab
Bernd Wiesberger
Ross Fisher
Jorge Campillo
Sihwan Kim
Aaron Rai
Fabrizio Zanotti
David Lipsky
Jordan Smith
Top Performers against Weak Fields (since 2015)
Alexander Levy
Erik van Rooyen
Jorge Campillo
Mikko Korhonen
Julian Suri
Wade Ormsby
Kurt Kitayama
Thomas Detry
Victor Dubuisson
Fabrizio Zanotti
Top Performers in the Spring Season (since 2015)
Ross Fisher
Masahiro Kawamura
Alexander Levy
Erik van Rooyen
Julian Suri
Jorge Campillo
Alexander Bjork
Hao Tong Li
Bernd Wiesberger
Jordan Smith
Golfers that show up on all FIVE lists: Jorge Campillo, Alexander Levy
Golfers that show up on 4-of-5 lists: Ross Fisher, Fabrizio Zanotti, Bernd Wiesberger
Golfers that show up on 3-of-5 lists: Hao Tong Li, Julian Suri, Jordan Smith, Alexander Bjork, Victor Dubuisson
My Top 25 for the 2019 Volvo China Open
1. Hao Tong Li
2. Julian Suri
3. Jorge Campillo
4. Jordan Smith
5. Alexander Bjork
6. Erik van Rooyen
7. Fabrizio Zanotti
8. Thomas Detry
9. Mike Lorenzo-Vera
10. Mikko Korhonen
11. Ross Fisher
12. Matthias Schwab
13. David Lipsky
14. Masahiro Kawamura
15. Christiaan Bezuidenhout
16. Victor Dubuisson
17. Andrea Pavan
18. Alexander Levy
19. Gaganjeet Bhullar
20. Nacho Elvira
21. Jason Scrivener
22. Benjamin Hebert
23. Sean Crocker
24. Romain Langasque
25. Scott Jamieson