15 year old Ye wins Volvo China final qualifying

Ye Jian-feng, one of China’s fast rising junior golfers at the age of 15, showed the pros how it should be done by winning the Volvo China Open final qualifying competition at Beijing CBD International Golf Club on Wednesday.

The Junior World Championship runner-up had a barnstorming finish including two birdies over the notoriously difficult final four holes, for a five-over-par 77 to seal the win and to earn one of the three places remaining in the US$2 million showpiece event at Shanghai Silport Golf Club next week.

Ye’s two-round total of 158 was two shots ahead of Beijing pros Zhang Cheng-wei and Jin Cheng-de.

“I’m very surprised,” said a delighted Ye.

“I came here to see how I could play against the pros, but I didn’t expect to qualify. I’m very, very happy right now,” he added.

Ye showed just what a bright prospect he is by staging magnificent recoveries under intense pressure at the last two holes. Bunkered off the tee at the 476-yard 17th, Ye hit a seven iron to within 10 feet and holed the putt for birdie. He again found a deep greenside bunker on the final hole but made the difficult shot look easy by splashing out to within 18 inches for a par.

The youngster first came to prominence two years ago when he won his age category in the Volvo China Junior Championship. Despite being one of China’s potential golfing stars, he has no intention to follow other local players overseas for further education and coaching.

“I just want to play in China. I like the weather here and I think, golfwise, I have everything I need here. I will go to college in China and see how things develop with golf. I don’t dream of turning pro. I will wait and see,” said Ye.

Zhang, 24, and Jin, 30, could hardly contain their delight at securing the final two places in the Volvo China Open.

“I spend most of my time coaching at a local driving range and can only play once a week. I’m surprised to qualify, and now I will have to practice really hard to sharpen up my game for next week at Silport,” said Jin.

Zhang also admitted that he faces a similar problem.

“There are a lot of people now taking up golf in Beijing. Coaching gives me very little time to work on my own game, so the next few days will be intensive practice,” said Zhang.

All 13 qualifying places for the Volvo China Open are now filled and the players will join the cream of the European and Asian Tours at Shanghai Silport Golf Club on Thursday 12th April.

Leading final round scores

1 YE Jian-feng(A) 81 77 158 +14
2 ZHANG Cheng-wei 83 77 160 +16
2 JIN Cheng-de 81 79 160 +16
4 ZHU Qing-shan(A) 83 78 161 +17
4 YU Chun-ze 82 79 161 +17
4 ZHOU Xu-bao (A) 81 80 161 +17
4 YANG Bing 78 83 161 +17
8 ZHANG Meng 82 80 162 +18
8 YANG Quan 81 81 162 +18
8 GAO Wei-yang 81 81 162 +18
8 QING San-yong 80 82 162 +18
8 WANG Xu 79 83 162 +18

April 4, 2007

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