– This Thursday the regular calendar of the DP World Tour resumes after four weeks off (aside from the Masters), with the staging of the Volvo China Open. And it is not just any or minor week for the Spanish contingent, as we are about to demonstrate
– On 30 April 2017, almost nine years ago, at 6:45 in the morning (Spanish peninsular time) the feature match of the fourth and final round of that year’s Volvo China Open teed off. And in that match was Pablo Larrazábal, who started three shots behind the leader, his playing partner Dylan Fritelli. The Barcelonan would finish third, one shot short of getting into a playoff contested by Alexander Levy and Fritelli himself, with victory for the Frenchman
– On 29 April 2018, also at 6:45 in the morning (Spanish peninsular time), the feature match of the fourth and final round of that year’s Volvo China Open teed off. And in that match, curiously enough, another Spaniard, Adrián Otaegui, was playing alongside Matt Wallace. Both were joint leaders of the tournament with 18 holes to play. In addition, Jorge Campillo teed off in the third-to-last group just one shot behind the co-leaders and, to make matters even more remarkable, Nacho Elvira went out earlier, but only two shots off the co-leaders… Otaegui would finish second, one shot behind the winner, the Swede Bjork
– On 5 May 2019, at 3:20 in the morning (Spanish peninsular time) the feature match of the fourth and final round of that year’s Volvo China Open teed off. The tee times had been brought forward with three-balls and play from both tees…
Have you guessed it? Indeed, on that occasion too a Spaniard, Jorge Campillo, was in the final group alongside the Finn Korhonen and the Frenchman Hebert. The Extremaduran started three shots behind the leader, Hebert, and would finish one shot short of getting into a playoff contested by his two playing partners, the Finn and the Frenchman, which the Finn would win
– In 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 the Volvo China Open was not part of the DP World Tour schedule (reason: the pandemic and its long aftermath in Chinese territory) and no Spaniard played the tournament in those editions. But in 2024 normality returned…
– On 5 May 2024, at 3:50 in the morning (Spanish peninsular time), also with three-balls and two-tee starts, the feature match of the third and final round (the tournament had been reduced to three rounds due to adverse weather) of that year’s Volvo China Open teed off. On this occasion no Spanish player was in that final group, but Adrián Otaegui did appear in the penultimate group (3:40 in the morning). Otaegui, who started five shots behind the leader, would end up winning the tournament, of all things, by one shot over the Italian Migliozzi
– On 20 April 2025, at 6:40 in the morning (Spanish peninsular time), the feature match of the fourth and decisive round of that year’s Volvo China Open teed off. Of course, that group included a Spanish player, as is customary, on this occasion Eugenio Chacarra, who was also joint leader of the tournament alongside his playing partner, Haotong Li. The Madrilenian would finish fourth, three shots behind the winner, Ashun Wu
– This astonishing sequence of events has occurred in the last five editions of the Volvo China Open, but across almost a decade (2017-2025). It has happened, moreover, with the appearance of many and varied Spanish players in those final groups and, if that were not enough, on three different courses in China (Topwin Golf in Beijing, Hidden Grace in Shenzhen and Enhance Anting in Shanghai, which is also where it is played this week). It is therefore very hard to establish a convincing causality… But it happens
– As has been shown, the time difference with China gives rise to interesting early starts if you want to follow the tournament’s progress and broadcasts in detail… But, given what we have seen and looking at the behaviour of the Spanish contingent at this event, we cannot think of a more suitable week in the whole year to dedicate oneself to the noble and honourable activity of getting up early. Especially if it falls on a Sunday
