Qualifiers ready for Volvo China Open glory in April

Yang Yinong and Chen Guxin booked their tickets to next month's Volvo China Open on Wednesday as the two finished tied atop the leaderboard at the 36-hole qualifying tournament, the only players to break par at Enhance Anting Golf Club in Shanghai's suburban Jiading District.

With conditions sunny, calmer and warmer than Tuesday's blustery opening round, Yang closed with a 5-under-par 66 for the low round in qualifying, as Chen was 1-under 70. Both players finished on 1-under 141. Bowen Chai (67) was third at two shots back.

Other Chinese mainland players to qualify for the 30th national championship, a US$2.5-million tournament on the DP World Tour, on April 17-20 also at Enhance Anting, were Bo Peng (68), Pang Ming (69) and Zhang Jin (73), the 2021 Volvo China Open winner who passed through qualifying for the second straight year, in equal fourth on 145.

Four players on 146 took part in a playoff for three spots. Zhang Zihong (71) hit into the water on his third shot. When Wu Di (71) made a bogey putt, Zhang admitted defeat. Amateur Li Zhengqian (72) and first-round leader Fang Yu (76) also got in. Li joins his younger brother, Li Zhengda, the Volvo China Junior Match Play Championship winner, in the field for the Volvo China Open.

The three spots available to non-mainland Chinese players were claimed by Japanese Kento Nakai who shot his second straight round of 72, while Hong Kong amateur Shen Wang-ngai (72) was a shot further back. Hong Kong pro Michael Wong (78) got in on 151, the highest score to qualify.

Chen, a 21-year-old who finished equal second at the 2023 Volvo China Open when it was played on the Asian Tour, started strongly with three consecutive birdies beginning at the 208-yard second hole. Following bogeys at holes six and 12, he picked up another stroke at the 420-yard 15th hole. After a double-bogey six at the 375-yard penultimate hole, he quickly recovered to sink a 12-foot birdie putt at the last.

"There were plenty of birdies today. On this course, it's impossible to avoid mistakes so you need to make up for them with birdies. I'm really happy about the number of birdies I made," said Chen. "To be honest, I checked the leaderboard multiple times during the round, like on the 15th hole.

"I'm very satisfied with this finish. Honestly, I just came here to play two days of golf and didn't expect to win the qualifier or anything like that."

Yang, who is coming off two surgeries, one of which was for appendicitis, said he hadn't planned on playing in the qualifier but had to after he was injured last year, He called the Volvo China Open the biggest tournament a Chinese could participate in on home soil.

"Earning this qualification feels truly honorable," said the 27-year-old. "I adopted a steady strategy and tried to lay up on all the par-5 holes. My short game was really on point today, saving me in many crucial moments. The highlights of my round today weren't the birdies but rather a couple of par saves, including the one on the second hole."

Nakai, who shared the first-round lead among non-mainland players with Singaporean Nicklaus Chiam (85), held steady to finish 2-over. His round featured three birdies and four bogeys.

"My game wasn't very good today, but I didn't give up and stayed focused until the end. The greens were tricky, and most players struggled, but I never gave up," said the Tokyo native. "I'm very happy to finish first and qualify. This is my second time participating in the Volvo China Open and I aim to finish in the top 10."

Shen, a five-time winner on the amateur circuit, most recently at the Hong Kong Close and Mid Amateur Championship in January, carded a round featuring a lone birdie three at the 394-yard seventh hole and a double-bogey six at the 456-yard 14th.

"The weather today was much better than yesterday, and I expected the scores to improve compared to yesterday. That's why I thought I couldn't play conservatively," said the 21-year-old, 117th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

"I wanted to push forward and catch up, rather than wait for others to make mistakes and fall behind. I think I did quite well in that aspect today. Although I missed quite a few opportunities, my overall performance was solid."