European Tour Fantasy Golf Predictions – Volvo China Open

2018 Volvo China Open Preview

The European Tour’s brief stop-off in Morocco produced a fifth career victory for Alexander Levy; the diminutive Frenchman who is desperate to be part of the Ryder Cup team on home soil later this year.

He is doing everything right in his quest for selection, ranking ninth on the points list (in-between Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia), and you can guarantee there will be no let-up in Levy’s focus from now until the autumn.

That’s an interesting point for DFS gamers, who will note that the Frenchman is also the defending champion at this week’s event, the Volvo China Open from the Topwin Club in Beijing.

Alexander Levy of France on the 18th green during the final round of…

Alexander Levy of France on the 18th green during the final round of the Trophee Hassan II at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam on April 22, 2018 in Rabat, Morocco. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Levy has an outstanding record in China, and given his very tangible motivation for success in 2018 he will once again be a tough customer to beat.

But this is not an easy tournament to win; primarily because conditions are so perfect for high quality golf. Topwin is as picturesque as it gets, and the gentle undulations of the layout lend themselves to low scores. Indeed, the last two winners have posted -22 and -17 respectively, and with a fine week weather-wise expected there is no reason why those numbers can’t be matched.

Topwin measures 7,261 yards for its Par 72, and there really is little here to worry the players apart from being distracted by the views of the Great Wall of China. An easy parklands layout, the greens are large but sloping so accurate approach play is required, but really the object this week is to hit plenty of fairways.

Last year’s playoff protagonist Dylan Frittelli, who was bested by Levy in extra time, hit a staggering 80% of fairways from an average drive length of 303 yards, but distance actually isn’t key here: Pablo Larrazabal, Chris Wood and Bernd Wiesberger all bagged top-fives average roughly 285 yards off the tee.

But if you can get it out there then there are advantages to be had. There are four Par 5s and three of those are a piece of cake, and there are two driveable Par 4s as well: those saw a combined tally of 13 eagles and 316 birdies made over the course of the week 12 months ago!

It does seem there is a knack to playing in China too: the last four winners of this event have been either Chinese (Ashun Wu, Haotong Li) or a specialist in these conditions (Levy), so it may well be worth sticking to those who have shown prior form in this part of the world.

Levy is looking for a third Volvo China Open title this week, so does he make our draft and who else features on our roster? Let’s have a look…

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This Week’s Volvo China Open Fantasy Picks & Predictions

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This Week’s Volvo China Open Fantasy Picks

Haotong Li – $11,300 – The temptation to draft Alexander Levy is obvious, but there is a clear worry backing any a) winner from the week before, and b) defending champion. How rare is it to see somebody defend or win twice in a just two weeks….it’s a statistical anomaly, that’s for sure.

And the claims of Bernd Wiesberger are obvious: top five here last year, a winner in China at the Shenzhen International event and a highly respectable T24 finish in The Masters in his last outing.

But instead, we’re going to opt for the Chinese native with the world at his feet.

Haotong Li announced himself on the big stage when finishing second at his home Shenzhen International back in 2015 at the ripe old age of 19.

He has gone from strength to strength since, picking up a brace of not-inconsiderable European Tour titles: this event in 2016, where he compiled a fantastic final round of 64 under considerable pressure, and the Dubai Desert Classic earlier this year, where he went toe-to-toe with Rory McIlroy on a fascinating Sunday and came out on top.

There is a maturity to Haotong’s play that marks him out as such a special talent at the age of 22, and as well as the myriad of career titles that surely beckon you wonder if we have a potential major winner in our midst: his final round of 63 at last year’s British Open to help him to solo third, and an eye-catching debut at Augusta National a few weeks ago where he recorded three rounds of par or better suggest as much.

There is an inconsistency to Haotong’s game, as you would expect from somebody so young, but given his clear love of playing on Chinese soil, his past form at Topwin and the fact he is an obvious world class talent, we are willing to take a chance on him this week.

Jorge Campillo – $8,700 – The Spaniard is an absolute birdie-machine in full flight, and with a trio of top-five finishes in his last five starts we can rest assured that Campillo is well placed to take advantage of Topwin’s generous scoring opportunities.

The 31-year-old is yet to win a professional title, but you sense he is getting closer: he enjoyed his first taste of genuine contention at the Maybank Championship, where he would finish solo second, and his low-scoring skills secured T4 and T5 finishes at the Oman Open and Open de Espana respectively – all have come since the start of February.

Campillo has form at Topwin under his belt too, having finished T9 here 12 months ago and T34 a year prior to that, which could have been so much better but for a final round of 73.

Thomas Detry – $7,700 – When you fire up the European Tour’s stats pages and view the category ‘Total Birdies,’ you will see Thomas Detry in third place behind Shubhankar Sharma and Dylan Frittelli; excellent company indeed.

The insinuation of that is if the Belgian made fewer mistakes, he too would be winning European Tour titles like those two chaps named above.

Regardless, we’re always happy to take a chance on talented youngsters in an event where low-scoring is paramount, and Detry can certainly mix it in the birdie-making stakes.

He burst onto the scene with that incredible 12-stroke victory in the Bridgestone Challenge on the Challenge Tour in 2016; an event he won with a measly score of -29! The following year he posted a top-ten in the China-hosted Foshan Open, and since the start of the 2017 campaign on the European Tour he has compiled five top-ten finishes.

You sense it is just a matter of time before he secures an elite-level win….could it be this week?

Romain Wattel – $7,600 – After an absence of nearly two months, Wattel returned to Tour life at the Trophee Hassan – he could barely have picked a more complex layout! – and played well from tee to green, by all accounts, with a cool putter letting him down somewhat.

But that is to be expected as there was bound to be a bit of rust, but the Frenchman can head to a part of the world he enjoys with confidence.

Course form of 24-15 is encouraging, and the trend of form in China continues for Wattel: he was T8 at another host venue of this event, Shanghai Pudong, in 2015.

He tends to prefer birdie-fests to grinds, finishing T11 at the Maybank Championship four starts ago at -14, with his sole European Tour victory coming at last year’s KLM Open via a score of -15.

Alvaro Quiros – $7,300 – A source of huge frustration for Quiros and his followers is just how inconsistent the Spaniard is. Sure, his big-hitting style only suits certain layouts, but with so much talent it is a surprise that he hasn’t been more of a force of late.

Even so, it is easy to forget he is a seven-time European Tour winner, with his last victory coming as recently as 2017 at the Rocco Forte Open.

Quiros offered a gentle reminder of his talents at the Trophee Hassan last week. Leading after 54 holes, the Spaniard couldn’t quite convert amid the charging Levy but still played a solid final round to finish solo second.

Most impressive was his game off the tee: Quiros looked rock solid, and his rank of ninth for driving accuracy (62.5%) to go with his 302-yard average is a good sign indeed. If he drives as well this week he will create plenty of birdie opportunities, that’s for sure.

Brandon Stone – $7,000 – The signs suggest an improvement from Brandon Stone is imminent.

This prodigious young talent played some decent stuff at a tough Trophee Hassan last week to finish T22, and that followed rounds of 67 and 69 when finding some form at the Open de Espana a week prior.

As with anybody struggling for touch, Stone will appreciate the opportunity to ‘club down’ at Topwin, and in his T18 finish here last year he made 20 birdies; just two less than champion Levy.

The 25-year-old is a two-time European Tour winner – albeit in his homeland – who finished T2 at Shenzhen in 2016, so this is a proven champion whose best game tends to travel to China with him. That makes Stone an interesting proposition this week.

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