Volvo China Open 36 Hole Recap and Weekend Preview
By Joe Walton
The rain has followed the European Tour to Beijing – many players finished Friday without completing 36 holes at the Volvo China Open.
The Volvo China Open wasn’t supposed to be like this. After a rain-soaked Shenzhen International went to a Monday finish, the weather forecast looked set fair in Beijing. But the weather followed the Tour. After two days of play, 79 players still need to complete their second rounds.
There will be a very early start at Topwin Golf and Country Club on Saturday morning, with some players having to play 36 holes in a day. With the added complication of the cut still to be made, it is going to be a busy couple of days in the of the shadow of the Great Wall of China.
One of the few lucky players who get a bit of a lie-in on Saturday morning is the current leader, Felipe Aguilar. The Chilean got out early on Friday to shoot 65. That complemented his opening round of 68 perfectly to leave him on -11, one shot clear of the field.
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Aguilar has had a poor season so far which he puts down to the after effects of running an ironman triathlon in the winter break. “I guess I now believe my doctors when they said I would struggle to recover my fitness from doing an ironman competition,” Aguilar told the European Tour website after his second round.
Aguilar is now focussing solely on golf but he is going to need all of the staying power he showed during his endurance event to hold off the challenge of those breathing down his neck.
The chasing pack is headed by Alex Noren and Bernd Wiesberger. Both are very classy players who possess a great amount of power which should give them a big advantage over the weekend. At a shade over 7,220 yards, Topwin is already a fairly long course and will only play longer due to the soft conditions. Expect Noren and Wiesberger to remain in the mix.
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The rest of the Volvo China Open field is incredibly bunched up. There are 18 players within four of the leader including long hitters like Marcel Siem and the 2011 champion, Nicolas Colsaerts. The ‘Belgian Bomber’, as he’s known, is desperate to get back into the winner’s circle and has all the tools to get the job done in Beijing.
Pre-tournament favourite, Joost Luiten, is further back than he would like at -6 following a second round 71. However, he will get out on the course before many of his competition and will be hoping to go low to put the pressure on.
Another player set for a huge Saturday is Hennie Otto. The first round leader still has four holes of his second round to play so has a chance of making it into the final group on day three. If the South African makes the most of his competitive warm-up he will be well placed to win his first European Tour event for the best part of two years.
Next: Volvo China Open Power Rankings
Whatever the weather, the Volvo China Open looks very well set to provide some brilliant drama over the next two days.