Genworth Stats Pack - Volvo China Open Preview

Defending champion Branden Grace has much to live up to in 2013 following his four European Tour victories last year. The early season has not been quite so heroic, but the 24 year old South African is ranking well in numerous Genworth Statistics categories (his Driving Accuracy and Greens in Regulation rankings are lower as a result of a tough schedule of events). Last year Branden produced some incredible long game statistics at this event. Off the tee he hit 82.1% fairways whilst averaging 301 yards Driving Distance, which then enabled him to hit 86.1% Greens in Regulation. If he does that again this week he will be tough to beat.

Alexander Noren arrives in excellent form with tied 6th place finishes from his last two starts on the European Tour. Interestingly, last year at this event he also finished tied 6th so perhaps that is a good omen. Looking at his Genworth Season Statistics, the 30 year old Swedish golfer ranks low for both Driving Accuracy and Driving Distance, which may be producing a slightly negative knock-on effect onto his Par 5 statistics, but he still ranks an impressive 11th for Stroke Average and he is strong in most other categories.

Genworth Ambassador Pablo Larrazábal arrives off the back of three top ten finishes from his last four starts, so confidence should be high. His Genworth Season Statistics are distorted by a few below average performances earlier in the year, but more recently they are much stronger (for example his Stroke Average for his last four events is great at 70.38). Last year Pablo finished tied 18th at this event, and in doing so he produced some quality long game statistics, ranking 18th for Driving Accuracy (82.1%), 19th for Driving Distance (293 yards) and 4th for Greens in Regulation (84.7%).

Kiradech Aphibarnrat is emerging as a real talent. His finishes of 4th, 1st and 11th from three European Tour starts in 2013 have rocketed him to the top of the Genworth Stroke Average Rankings. The 23 year old golfer from Thailand (who missed the cut here last year) seems to be scoring well across the different hole types (Par 3’s / Par 4’s / Par 5’s), especially on the Par 5 holes. He is hitting 20.5% of the Par 5 greens in sub-regulation (two shots) and he ranks 1st for Par 5 Scoring with a 4.41 average.

Wen-chong Liang is the first of two golfers from China featured in our preview report. The 34 year old from Zhongshan (who missed the cut here last year) is performing well in the early season, finishing in the money in each event played so far (with a best of 3rd at the Avantha Masters). His Genworth Season Statistics highlight a sublime touch on and around the greens, ranking 6th for Scrambles, 10th for Putts per Round and 9th for 1 Putts per Round.

Ashun Wu is the second of two golfers from China featured in our preview report. The 27 year old (who also missed the cut here last year) has only played two events on the European Tour so far in 2013, but he has finished well in both of them. Looking at his Genworth Statistics from those events, Ashun has hit a good number of greens and he has putted well. It will be interesting to see how he performs over the Binhai Lake course which tends to suit long hitters.

Brett Rumford emerged from a three man play-off last week to win his fourth European Tour title. The 35 year old Australian golfer has struggled a little with his long game this year but as usual his touch around the greens has been fantastic, especially last week in Korea where he ranked 1st for all three of the Genworth Putting Statistics categories. Finishing in a tie for 29th here last year, it will be interesting to see how Brett performs.

Marcus Fraser arrives in superb form off the back of a tied 2nd place finish in Korea (losing in a play-off to fellow Aussie Brett Rumford). But he also possesses fond memories of this Binhai Lake course last year when he finished tied 6th here. The 34 year old putting wizard ranked 3rd for both Putts per Round and Putts per GIR, so he enjoys these greens. Perhaps it is not such a bombers course after all?

Thomas Aiken returns to compete on the European Tour after one month away. The 29 year old South African golfer (who did not play here last year) already has one win under his belt in 2013 and he currently possesses one of the most consistent long games on tour. Looking at his Genworth Season Statistics, Thomas ranks 25th for Driving Accuracy, 32nd for Driving Distance and 7th for Greens in Regulation, plus he is hitting 21.4% of the Par 5 greens in sub-regulation (two shots).

Although he missed the cut here last year, the Binhai Lake course should suit Stephen Gallacher, who is averaging 296 yards off the tee and hitting 72.4% Greens in Regulation in 2013. The 38 year old Scottish golfer was victorious earlier in the year in Dubai and he has continued to finish in the money each time out since then, including placing 6th in Korea last week.

Victor Dubuisson tied 4th at this event last year, producing some exceptional long game statistics in the process. He ranked 27th for Driving Accuracy (76.8%), 3rd for Driving Distance (303 yards) and 1st for Greens in Regulation (87.5%), but incredibly he still ended up five shots adrift of the winner Branden Grace. The long hitting 23 year old talent from France has finished inside the top ten on three occasions already in 2013 and this course may suit his game perfectly if he can get the putter going (last week in missing the cut in Korea, Victor two putted every one of his 36 holes played).