– The Volvo China Open, which starts this Thursday, is being held for the second consecutive year at the Enhance Anting Golf Club in Shanghai, a Robert Trent Jones Jr design, opened in 2005. The defending champion is Ashun Wu.
– We have 13 Spaniards in contention. The main newcomer is called Alex del Rey. The Madrid native returns to competition after the longest break of his career. He has not played since the Joburg Open in early March. He has never taken such a long break since turning professional. It is six weeks. The longest he had been out was five weeks, on three occasions. On each of those returns he made the cut and his best result was 25th in Czechia in 2023.
– Kevin Na is playing the tournament. It is news. It is his first appearance in a regular DP World Tour event since 2021. Curiously, the last event he played was the PIF Saudi International. A year later he ended up in LIV Golf. He played in the Saudi league with little success until this year, when he was effectively shown the door. The official explanation is that they wanted a team made up only of Koreans. His poor form likely had something to do with it as well.
– The tournament is co‑sanctioned with the China Tour. This circuit holds a very strong 36‑hole qualifying event for 12 places. The joint first position went to Jin Han, a 15‑year‑old who will make his DP World Tour debut this week. It will also be his first professional tournament.
– Spanish golf has enjoyed considerable success at this tournament, as already explained here. Pablo Larrazábal, absent, has as many as four top‑10s at this event, while Jorge Campillo has three. The Extremaduran could tie the Barcelonan.
– The Volvo China Open is the sixteenth tournament of the DP World Tour season and the third of four of the Asian Swing. The top three of this mini swing who are not already qualified for the PGA Championship will secure a place for this second Major of the year, which will be played at Aronimink in mid‑May. Right now, Jorge Campillo and Eugenio Chacarra occupy third and fourth in this ranking. However, anyone who wins this week will be in the fight.
– Shanghai has greeted the players with surprising weather. These first days of the week it has been very cold, with a feels‑like temperature below ten degrees. Another surprise has been the greens. They were very firm in the first two practice days. That said, everything can change, as a big storm is expected this Wednesday. The forecast says 30–40 litres could fall. If confirmed, the greens will become more receptive. It is a wide and forgiving course, so low scores are to be expected. It might rain a little on Thursday, but from Friday the forecast is good.
– Ashun Wu and Alex Levy are the only players who have won this tournament twice and who, therefore, could win it three times. Both are taking part this week.
– A star pairing once again for Ángel Ayora. The Málaga golfer, who has Juan Carlos Ferrero with him this week, shares tee times on Thursday and Friday with Ashun Wu, the defending champion, and Daniel Hillier, who returns to competition after his victory at the New Zealand Open in early March. His break has been seven weeks, one more than Alex del Rey.
