Mikko Korhonen Wins Volvo China Open

May 07, 2019

The Finnish professional collected his second European Tour title with a birdie on the first playoff hole.

Mikko Korhonen Wins Volvo China Open

Mikko Korhonen won his second European Tour title this week thanks to a playoff victory over Frenchman Benjamin Hebert.

The Finn entered the day three shots back of Hebert but had three birdies in six holes to narrow the gap. Then, after a bogey on the eighth, he produced a flawless back-nine of four-under to post a score of 20-under.

This was not enough to win the tournament outright as Hebert birdied two of the last three to force a playoff.

The pair headed back down the 18th hole and Korhonen brilliantly holed an 11-foot birdie putt to win the tournament. This makes him a two-time winner on the European Tour after his 2018 Shot Clock Masters win last year.

Speaking after the win he said; “It’s an amazing feeling,” he said. “I don’t know how I did it but it’s probably the putter that was my winning formula this week. I made lots of putts from outside 15-20 feet this week.

“Winning a golf tournament is never easy. It was a battle all day as everyone was making putts and I had to stay patient and do the same.

“It’s great to have this second win in the bag and I’m delighted.”

Hebert narrowly missed out on his first European Tour title (Getty Images)

Hebert, a six-time winner on the European Challenge Tour, will have to wait until next time to get his first win on the European Tour. However he remains positive, saying afterwards;

“Looking at the way I played, I’m happy. Mikko played great today and he didn’t make any mistakes and putted well.

“I’m still chasing my first win. I got close this week and I have to be more consistent and see what happens.”

Fourteen year-old Kuang Yang makes a putt to make the cut (Getty Images)

In other news Jorge Campillo continues his brilliant form narrowly missing out on the playoff by one stroke, and the Chinese golfers put on a good show with Haotong Li and Ashun Wu both coming in the top-10. Additionally 14-year old Yang Kuang made the cut on the mark making him the second youngest player to ever make a cut on the European Tour.

Volvo China Open Leaderboard

1) Mikko Korhonen (FIN) -20 68 69 65 66 268 €443,817

2) Benjamin Hebert (FRA) -20 67 68 64 69 268 €295,878

3) Jorge Campillo (ESP) -19 65 69 68 67 269 €166,698

4) Haotong Li (CHN) -16 67 73 66 66 272 €133,145

5) Romain Langasque (FRA) -15 67 69 70 67 273 €82,443

5) David Lipsky (USA) -15 65 72 70 66 273 €82,443

5) Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA) -15 67 71 71 64 273 €82,443

5) Jordan Smith (ENG) -15 67 70 69 67 273 €82,443

5) Ashun Wu (CHN) -15 66 65 72 70 273 €82,443

10) Sean Crocker (USA) -14 68 68 72 66 274 €53,258

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