Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond believes his early season good form has placed him on the road map to success as he tees off as one of the genuine contenders for the Volvo China Open which starts on Thursday.
Jazz is currently in second place on the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings and has been on a red-hot streak since the end of 2018. He has notched seven top-five in his last 11 events which dates back to last December.
The world number 72, who credited his coach Peter Cowen for his achievements, got his season off to a flying start by winning his third Asian Tour title in Singapore and has already secured starts in the US PGA Championship in May and The Open Championship in July.
Jazz’s title ambitions at the Volvo China Open will be put to a stern test by a strong field that includes defending champion Alexander Bjork of Sweden, France’s Alexander Levy as well as the Chinese duo of Wu Ashun and Li Haotong, who is the highest ranked player at world number 39 on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) this week.
Li became the youngest winner of the tournament when he won in 2016 at the age of 20 while Wu lifted the Volvo China Open trophy in 2015. Levy is the only player to have won the Volvo China Open twice.
The Frenchman first won the title in 2014 when he cruised to a four stroke victory at Genzon Golf Club which is also this year’s host venue.
Did you know?
- Jazz Janewattananond’s real name is Atiwit but he switched to his nickname Jazz which was given by his father, a judge, due to the latter’s musical preference.
- Jazz has notched seven top-five in his last 11 events played worldwide, which dates back to last December.
- He won his third Asian Tour title at the season-opening SMBC Singapore Open and was on top of the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings before being dislodged by Australia’s Scott Hend who won his 10th Asian Tour title at the Maybank Championship in March.
- Jazz first played his way into the history books of the Asian Tour in 2010 when he became the youngest ever player, at the age of 14 years and 71 days, to make the halfway cut at the 2010 Asian Tour International in Bangkok.
- Jazz won his first Asian Tour title at the 2017 Bashundhara Bangladesh Open by four shots.
- The victory was particularly sweet for him as he finished outside the top-60 on the 2016 Order of Merit and missed the grade at the 2017 Qualifying School.
- Li Haotong became the youngest winner of the Volvo China Open when he won in 2016 at the age of 20.
- Wu Ashun emerged victorious in the 2015 edition of the Volvo China Open when he pipped England’s David Howell to the title by one shot.
- Alexander Levy is the only player to have won the Volvo China Open twice. He first won the title in 2014 when he cruised to a four stroke victory at Genzon Golf Club.
- Alexander Bjork became the first Swede to lift the prestigious Volvo China Open trophy last year.
Players’ Quotes
Jazz Janewattananond (Tha)
I’m feeling really good coming into this week. I’m having fun and enjoying myself. The Volvo China Open is a big event and a very good opportunity to regain my number one spot on the Asian Tour Order of Merit. The biggest reason why I’m playing so well is because of my new coach, Peter Cowen. I’ve been working with him since the middle of last year and things sort of clicked towards the end of the year and have been continuing since then. I owe my success to him. I’m very excited about playing the PGA Championship for the first time. I don’t know how I’m going to prepare myself for that yet as I heard the golf course is probably one of the toughest golf courses in America. I’m going there with an open mind and not expecting anything. It’s good to have options because of my world rankings and wins. I can choose which Tour I want to play and which tournament and courses I like to play in. I didn’t have much options in the past but now I have the flexibility of picking and choosing the best events for myself.
Alexander Bjork (Swe)
It’s different coming to an event as defending champion and it’s also different his year because it’s a different location here at Genzon. But it’s fun to see your face on posters and stuff and it’s a good feeling, I’m looking forward to the week. I played here two years ago and I thought the course was really good. I had a decent week in Morocco last week with a top-10. I didn’t play my best but putted well so if I can get the long game going this week I think I can have a good chance.
Li Haotong (Chn)
My game is feeling quite good at the moment, especially after two weeks off here in China, so I’m looking forward to this week. Of course I feel comfortable here this week, especially in Shenzhen. I will have a lot of friends coming here to watch me play this week and hopefully I can play some decent golf for them and maybe hold the trophy again. The course is a little bit soft from the recent rain but I think they will be good conditions for the tournament. I think for Chinese golf, this tournament has been huge for us, especially as you can see other Chinese players are doing well on the bigger tours now so I think our game is going to grow and grow.
Wu Ashun (Chn)
My game is quite good right now. I played last week in Morocco and it wasn’t great but I’ve found something in my game and I’m feeling good for this week. I’m happy to come back to the Volvo China Open. I have very good memories of this tournament, it was my first win on the European Tour and I also played in Genzon when this tournament was here last in 2014 so it’s always good to come back and play here. It’s always nice to come back to China, with good food and good fans here so you’re always going to enjoy this week.
Alexander Levy (Fra)
I’m really pleased to be back here on this golf course, it’s a lovely place, and this course is where I won my first event on the European Tour. So I’m happy to be back. I think it’s a golf course that suits my game pretty well, you have to hit some draws and that’s the trajectory I like most. It’s nice to come to a golf course you like and when I saw that the tournament was coming back to Genzon I was really happy.
