Levy Holds His Nerve
Alexander Levy strengthened his Ryder Cup bid with his one stroke victory at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam to move up to ninth in the European points list and a career-high 47th in the world rankings. The Tour moves onto Volvo China Open at Topwin G&CC for the third straight year and Levy shot a course record 63 in 2017 whilst playing with European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn. The Frenchman began the final round seven back of Dylan Frittelli last year and eventually won with a birdie on the first extra hole.
“Playing in China obviously agrees with me,” Levy said ahead of this week.
“It’s a lucky country for me and not only at the Volvo China Open as I’ve also finished seventh, third and fourth at other tournaments here so there’s no doubt that I like the place. “Winning last year in China was definitely a different feeling from 2014 because your first win is always special.
2016 champion Haotong Li, China’s number one, is in the field again and is having a superb season. The 22-year-old beat Rory McIlroy to win the Dubai Desert Classic in January and comes into this week fresh off a T32nd finish at The Masters. Kiradech Aphibarnrat is also highly fancied having won twice already this season.
Player watch: Alexander Levy – The Frenchman is rightly favourite for the tournament this week. He is the only man to have won this tournament twice and could well win in a third time this week. Haotong Li – The 22-year-old will be the fan favourite this week and is looking to match Levy as a two-time China Open winner. Ashun Wu – The home player won here in 2015 and also won the Lyoness Open in 2016. He will carry a lot of support and has made his last four cuts.
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