Tournament winner Wu Ashun of China smiles while playing on the second hole during the final round of the Volvo China Open golf tournament in Shanghai
With two Chinese golfers tied for the lead going into the final round of the Volvo China Open, there was a good chance one of them would become the first from the country to capture a European Tour title on home soil.
Most eyes were on Li Haotong at the start of the round, the talented 19-year-old touted as a future golf star in China. Instead, it was Wu Ashun, a player nearing 30 who had recently taken six months off to rebuild his swing and had never had a top-10 finish on the tour, who took home the trophy.
Wu proved to be the steadiest player during a final round filled with momentum swings, delighting the crowd in his hometown of Shanghai with a final-round 71 to secure a one-stroke victory over David Howell on Sunday. Wu finished at 9-under 279 overall.
“I tried my best to play every shot well,” he said. “I played very good today — not down, not up. Just simple golf today.”
It was not only the biggest title of Wu’s career, but also the biggest paycheck. He takes home nearly 500,000 euros ($543,000) — more than doubling how much he’s earned in seven years on the European Tour.
“There’s a long journey in a golf career, someone can hit a low score in their 30s, 40s, so I have to just be patient and keep practicing, keep playing the tournaments, and it will come,” Wu said through a translator.
Wu is the third Chinese player to win on the tour and the first since Liang Wen-Chong took the title at the Singapore Masters in 2007. Justin Bergman, Shanghai, AP
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