Swede success for Alexander Bjork in China Open

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Alexander 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 on Sunday.

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 CN¥20,000,000 (approx. US$3,178,000) event.

Björk endured an anxious wait before his victory was confirmed after overnight co-leaders Matt Wallace of England and former British boys champion 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 CN¥3,333,330 (approx. US$526,400).

Otaegui birdied the last to sign for a second straight 67 and finish in second place on his own. Wallace settled for a 68 following a closing par to share third place with countryman Jordan Smith (64) and Jorge Campillo (67) of Spain on 272.

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

Scores after round 4 of the Volvo China Open being played at the par 72, 7261 Yards Topwin GcC course (am - denotes amateur): Players from China unless otherwise indicated

270 - Alexander BJORK (SWE) 66-72-67-65.

271 - Adrian OTAEGUI (Spn) 68-69-67-67.

272 - Jordan SMITH (ENG) 69-69-70-64, Jorge CAMPILLO (Spn) 69-68-68-67, Matt WALLACE (ENG) 65-70-69-68.

273 - Lucas BJERREGAARD (Denmark) 70-73-66-64.

274 - Ashun WU  70-71-66-67, Jeunghun WANG (SKOR) 72-66-68-68, Paul DUNNE (Ire) 71-68-67-68, Jinho CHOI (SKOR) 69-72-65-68.

275 - Scott VINCENT (Zimbabwe) 66-74-68-67, Sihwan KIM (USA) 70-66-70-69, Andrea PAVAN (ITA) 68-72-66-69.

276 - Daxing JIN 64-76-69-67, Shubhankar SHARMA (India) 69-72-68-67, Mikko ILONEN (Finland) 71-70-67-68, Soomin LEE (SKOR) 68-69-70-69, Alexander LEVY (FRA) 69-73-65-69, Nacho ELVIRA (Spn) 69-67-70-70.

277 - Aaron RAI (ENG) 73-70-68-66, Ashley CHESTERS (ENG) 72-68-68-69, Jason SCRIVENER (Australia) 67-69-71-70, Matteo MANASSERO (ITA) 72-68-67-70, Julien GUERRIER (FRA) 68-69-68-72.

278 - Keith HORNE (SAf) 69-74-68-67, Joost LUITEN (Netherlands) 70-69-70-69.

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