The annual Volvo China Open has opened at the Shenzhen Zhengzhong Golf Club. After the first round, amateur Ding Wenyi and Central Tour champion Liu Yanwei both delivered -3 strokes to tie for the lead. Li Haotong, Ye Wocheng and other 6-2 shots, tied for 3rd place.
Because of the pandemic, the 27-year-old national Open failed to be certified by the European Tour for the second consecutive year. Although the participation of foreign players was missing, this did not affect the excitement of the event.
As last year's runner-up and best amateur, Ding Wenyi, who just turned 17 last month, made a lot of mistakes. But even so, he still grabbed 4 birds and once took a separate lead.
Ding Wenyi
It wasn't until he got to the 16th hole, where he had a good chance of par five, that Ding Wen had a problem with the P-bar of the green and hit the bunker. Because the bunker on the edge of the green was too close to the flagpole, he had no choice but to eat the only bogey in the whole place. In the end, he took a tie for the lead with 4 birdies and 1 bogey 69 (-3).
Talking about the overall play, he frankly said: "The putter is more satisfactory, but there are more mistakes in the kick-off. Because I spend more time training here, I have a lot more experience reading on the greens (than last year). ”
Li Haotong
The players who set off with Ding Wen were WeChat signed player Li Haotong. He said bluntly: "My state is very good, but there is a gap between my performance and my state today. Looking forward to playing out tomorrow. The 2016 Volvo China Open champion signed five birdies, three bogey scorecards to tie for 3rd place with a 70 (-2).
This race is the last Central Tour of the season, and if you win the title of Money King, you can get a participation card for next year's DP World Tour (European Tour). As one of the strong contenders for the bonus king, Liu Yanwei also made an impact on the first of the list. He took 5 birdies and 2 bogeys to tie for a tie for a lead of -3.
Liu Yanwei
"It's only Thursday and I'm not going to think too much about it." When asked about Liu Yanwei's chances of promotion, he said: "But since the beginning of the year, this has been my only goal. ”
Compared to the aforementioned players who set off in the morning, the afternoon golfers faced a much stronger wind. Ye Wocheng, who won the double championship in Shandong and Hainan this year, won 4 birdies and 2 bogeys, and finished in 3rd place with Zhang Jin, Liu Yue, Huang Wenyi, Liu Zehao and others with a -2 stroke.
Zhang Huilin, the defending champion and the leader of the prize money list, started from the bottom nine and made more mistakes. After opening the second hole to catch the bird, he swallowed 3 bogeys and 1 double bogey, which was slightly impatient. It wasn't until the 16th hole (No. 7) that he pushed into the mid-range uphill birdie push, which was a relief.
Zhang Huilin shot a 75 (+3), tied for 39th place with Kuang Yang, an amateur who once set a record for the youngest qualifier on the European Tour.
Hailing from Hong Kong, China, Junichi Hei, who has just won the championship from Hengdian, is also a strong contender for the prize money king. Little Black made a big mistake on the 14th hole today, bursting +2. With the addition of 6 birdies and 5 bogeys, he finished with 73 (+1), tied for 20th place.