China Open

[IanH]

Ratings for the China Open:

China Open		Topwin Golf and Country Club
		Par 72	7229 yards
Code	Player	FORM	COURSE	SKILLS	TOTAL
1	Joost Luiten	63	0	12	41.89
2	Peter Uhlein	59	0	15	41.00
3	Soomin Lee	43	0	15	32.33
4	Alexander Levy	51	0	6	31.44
5	Julien Quesne	56	0	0	31.11
6	Benjamin Hebert	33	0	18	28.56
7	Scott Hend	41	0	8	27.44
8	Pablo Larrazabal	31	0	6	20.78
9	Ross Fisher	27	0	9	19.89
10	James Morrison	35	0	0	19.44
11	Tommy Fleetwood	34	0	0	18.89
12	Gregory Bourdy	28	0	6	18.67
13	Mikko Ilonen	30	0	0	16.67
14	Richard Bland	30	0	0	16.67
15	Alex Noren	27	0	0	15.00
16	Thorbjorn Olesen	25	0	0	14.11
17	Tyrrell Hatton	13	0	8	11.44
18	Rikard Karlberg	17	0	3	11.22
19	Dean Burmester	0	0	20	11.11
20	Peter Hanson	17	0	1	10.11
21	Jeunghun Wang	18	0	0	10.00
22	Bradley Dredge	0	0	17	9.33
23	Bernd Wiesberger	0	0	14	7.56
24	Migeul Angel Jimenez	12	0	0	6.67
25	Richie Ramsay	9	0	0	5.00

 

[IanH]

Joost Luiten Looks Worthy Favourite for the China Open

This week’s China Open on the European Tour goes to a new venue which means there is no course form to assess. Identifying potential contenders is based on current form and skill’s profiles which makes Joost Luiten a worthy favourite. His obvious credentials have been written into the odds but he gets the tip while other players are recommended due to their current form. Peter Uihlein and Julien Quense can be competitive at this level. 

The China Open is the second stage in a ‘China Swing’ following the Shenzhen International last week. That tournament was disrupted by thunderstorms each day and was only completed last Monday. The winner was Soomin Lee from Korea but he was one of only two Asian players who finished in the top 30. Luiten was second two shots back after three rounds in the 60s and a level pat 72 in the third round. Quense played over the weekend without getting in contention and Uihlein missed the cut by one shot having played solidly and not done much wrong.

In the China Open last year Wu Ashun became the first Chinese player to win a European Tour event played in China. He beat David Howell by one shot after that player missed a nine foot putt on the 72nd hole that if holed would have taken the event into a play-off. The tournament has produced 21 different winners from 21 renewals with the champions coming from 14 countries. Since the event became part of the European Tour in 2004 six of the 12 winners were European players. In 2010 YE Yang from South Korea won the event and he is the only major winner to prevail.    

The course at the Topwin Golf and Country Club near Beijing is about average in length by modern standards. There is a premium on accuracy over distance but players must hole plenty of putts to contend. Birdie conversion will be more important than bogey avoidance on this tough course. The greens are undulating and water comes into play on 15 holes. Weather forecasts suggest there will be no delays and conditions are expected to be warm and dry. Temperatures should me moderate so players who have travelled from Shenzhen will not need to adjust to new conditions.

Luiten has won four times on the main tour and twice on the Challenge Tour so knows how to get the job done when contending. He backed up his runners-up finish in the Spanish Open at the demanding Valderrama venue with another near miss last week. He looks like a winner about to happen and China could be his week. A win would get him in the mix to becoming the first Dutchman to play in the Ryder Cup. Luiten has the best recent form of the entire field and can go one better this week. At 61 he is second the highest world ranked player in the field, 18 spots behind Bernd Wiesberger.

Uihlein had made his last five cuts before missing out last week. However, he has had a busy schedule but his game is in good nick. If he had missed the cut by several shots in the Shenzhen International missing the weekend would have been a negative but he only just failed to progress to the second 36 holes over the extended weekend. Quense recorded a top 20 finish against a similar quality of field for the China Open. The tournament lacks strength in depth and Luiten is the obvious favourite but Uihlein and Quense can make the payout places. 

Outright Winner Bets

20pts Win – Joost Luiten BetVictor @10/1

10pts Each Way – Peter Uihlein (5 places) Stan James @ 50/1

10pts Each Way – Julien Quense (5 places) Betfred @45/1