The DP World Tour remains in Asia this week, moving from Japan to the southern Chinese city of Shanzen for the Volva China Open. Damien Kayat previews.
2023/2024 DP World Tour/ China Tour
Volvo China Open
Hidden Grace Golf Club
2-5 May 2024
Japan’s Yuto Katsuragawa shot a final-round 63 to win last week’s ISPA Handa Championship in dramatic fashion. Overnight leader Casey Jarvis suffered a final-day meltdown that will take some to get over.
The China Open
The DP World Tour moves swiftly on to China for the next leg of this Asian Swing: the Volvo China Open. First staged back in 1995, this was a DP World Tour mainstay between 2005 and 2019. The 2020 and 2021 editions were sole-sanctioned by the China Tour due to the global pandemic.
The 2022 renewal was cancelled outright and the event returned to action on the Asian Tour last season. The event returns to the ‘limelight’ of the DP World Tour for the first time in five years. It has been hosted at Hidden Grace Golf Club for the last four renewals. Though back when Mikko Korhonen won back in 2019, it was known as Genzon Golf Club.
Hidden Grace Golf Club
Designed by Neil Haworth and opened back in 1995, Hidden Grace has gone by a few monikers. It used to be known as the Citic Longgong Golf Club prior to the switch to Genzon. It underwent an extensive renovation and bears little resemblance to the course opened in 1995.
It has hosted the last four editions of this event and the 2014 Volvo China Open. It also hosted the Shenzhen International between 2015 and 2017. The course is an absolute stunner. It is located within a beautiful botanical garden and many of the holes hug a huge lake.
The entire course is laid to Pasapalum while the greens are laid to Paspalum Platinum. It is an interesting course that changes as it progresses. It is largely tree-lined but suddenly becomes a more open affair in the final stretch. The fairways are generous and you would expect the bombers to thrive here.
The Contenders
Sebastian Soderberg has finished runner-up in his last two events and looks well-positioned to win the Asian Swing. Not only does the winner of this mini swing win a nice payday, the top three players in the Asian Swing will secure a spot at the 2024 PGA Championship being played at Valhalla.
That definitely does add a degree of jeopardy to proceedings. Fellow Swede Jesper Svensson won the Porsche Singapore Classic in March and victory here will certainly secure his spot at Valhalla. Jordan Smith is the top-ranked player in the field at 93 (which is a pretty sad indictment of where the DP World Tour is currently at).
Haotong Li is a firm fan favourite and he will no doubt enjoy a solid following this week. All in all, this is a really open field that will require some Nostradamus-level prognostication.
Past Winners
2023: Sarit Suwannarut (-19) *Asian Tour event
2022: no event
2021: Zhang Jin (-8) *China Tour event
2020: Zhang Huilin (-19) *China Tour event
2019: Mikko Korhonen (-20) *playoff
To Win Outright:
Sebastian Soderberg 16/1 | Jordan Smith 18/1 | Tom McKibben 20/1 Yannik Paul 22/1 | Haotong Li 22/1
Value Bets
Bernd Wiesberger- To Win 25/1
Berd Wiesberger has looked very consistent since returning from his LIV Golf jaunt with his tail tucked firmly between his legs. He has made the cut in five of the six events he has played, finishing in the top 25 in four of those events. The former Ryder Cupper has obviously had his struggles with the putter throughout his career. But he has always had a brilliant tee-to-green game and that is why this course suits him. He held off Tommy Fleetwood to win the Shenzhen title here in 2017. He then finished 14th two years later when he was bang out of form. He was first in greens hit last week and that should stand him in good stead this week.
Alex Levy- To Win 35/1
Five-time DP World Tour winner Alex Levy lost his playing rights last year due to injury and general loss of form. But the 33-year-old is more than capable of regaining his form. There is rain predicted in the early stages this week and Levy has been known to like a weather-soaked layout, winning the weather-reduced Portugal Masters back in 2014. He can thrive in soft conditions and he also happens to know what it takes to win around Hidden Grace. He won the Volvo China Open hosted here in 2014. He also won the event hosted at Topwin in 2017. He has been playing at a lower tier of late but back-to-back finishes of seventh and fourth on the PGA Tour of India last month augers well for him.
The Player to Beat- Haotong Li- To Win 22/1
Three-time DP World Tour winner Haotong Li has experienced some pretty insane fluctuations in form over the years. But he has looked far more consistent this season, picking up four top 20 finishes in six starts. And I just get the feeling that he could do something special in front of his home fans. He finished runner-up to Kiradech Aphibarnrat at the Shenzhen International staged here back in 2017. He just ticks all the right boxes in this pretty substandard field.
