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“ It ’ s great to know that I am the first Swede to win the prestigious tournament . It sounds pretty good . I am super happy . I would say the birdie on 17 was good . I knew I had a good chance on 18 . I know I will have a good chance if I can make par on 18 .”
- Alexander Bjork
Alexander the great !
Alexander Bjork with the trophy
�lexander Björk became the first Swede to lift the prestigious Volvo China Open trophy after he closed with a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 to win by one shot at the Topwin Golf and Country Club . The 27-year-old Björk , who started the round one shot back , rolled in seven birdies for a winning total of 18-under-par 270 and claimed his maiden title on both the Asian Tour and the European Tour in the three Million Dollar event . Björk endured an anxious wait before his victory was confirmed after overnight co-leaders Matt Wallace of England and Adrian Otaegui of Spain failed to eagle the par-five 18th hole to force a play-off . He took home a winner ’ s prize purse of US $ 526,400 . Otaegui finished in second place while Wallace settled for the third place with shared with countrymen Jordan Smith and Jorge Campillo of Spain . Ashun Wu produced the shot of the day when his eight-iron tee shot from 158 yards found the bottom of the cup on the par-three 13th hole . It was the third hole-in-one of the week . Wu , who won the tournament in 2015 , signed for an eventual 67 to emerge as the highest-ranked Chinese player in tied-seventh position in the 24th edition of the Volvo China Open , which is tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour , European Tour and the China Golf Association .
Adrian Otaegui Matt Wallace
Did you know ?
Alexander Björk claimed his breakthrough win in what was his 44th start on the European Tour .
The victory will move him into the top-80 in the world , potentially to as high as 72nd , up from 115th on the Official World Golf Ranking ( OWGR ).
Björk has never fell outside top-10 in all four rounds of the Volvo China Open this week . He found 10 fairways , missed two greens and needed only 28 putts around the greens in his solid closing round of 65 .
Björk dropped only four bogeys the whole week . He had stayed bogey-free in his final 24 holes .
Björk turned professional in 2009 and has previously won once on the Challenge Tour .
Björk is playing in his second attempt at the Volvo China Open this week . He missed the halfway cut last year .
Adrian Otaegui , 25 , is a Spanish player who is based in Dubai . He turned professional in 2011 and won his maiden European Tour title at the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play in 2017 .
Otaegui is mentored by his countryman and idol , former Major champion José María Olazábal , having played most of his junior golf at his local golf club in the seaside resort of Fuenterrabia , where Olazábal was born and raised .
Matt Wallace claimed his second European Tour title and first Asian Tour victory at the 2018 Hero Indian Open last month .
Wallace broke a number of records when he won five times in five consecutive starts on the Alps Tour in 2016 . He won a total of six titles that year to win the Order of Merit .
Jeunghun Wang completed back-to-back victories with a comefrom-behind one-shot triumph in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open , barely a week after he had broken through in Morocco in 2016 .
The 22-year-old Wang is a three-time European Tour winner and one-time Asian Tour winner .
Wang enjoyed a stellar season in 2014 where he didn ’ t miss a single cut in 16 straight events on the Asian Tour .
Ashun Wu is a former winner of the Volvo China Open in 2015 . He sank his career ’ s third hole-in-one on the par-three 13th hole with an eight-iron from 158 yards in the final round of the 2018 Volvo China Open . It is also the third hole-in-one this week .
Beijing-Great Wall of China
GolfPlus JUNE 2018 33