Søren Kjeldsen
Søren Kjeldsen is one of just two players heading in the Volvo China Open who has already qualified for next month’s Volvo World Match Play Championship.
But the man who holds the Volvo Masters crown in perpetuity by taking the title on the 21st and final staging of the event is coming to Chengdu for one purpose and one purpose only, to win China’s national open golf championship at the Luxehills Interernational Golf Club.
English-based Dane Søren Kjeldsen seems to enjoy Volvo-sponsored tournaments; he started his career winning the Volvo Finnish Open in 1997 on the Challenge Tour, following that up with victory in Scotland, the ‘Home of Golf,’ at Gleneagles six-years-later.
But he saved the best win of a glittering career to date at the Volvo Masters in 2008, the 21st and final staging of the event, and recalls, “It was a huge win for me and although it is a bit disappointing when you do not get the chance to defend a title, the other side of that is that nobody can take it away from you.”
The 35-year-old father-of-two has been a regular at the Volvo China Open since it joined the European Tour in 2004, missing only last year as he made his Masters debut and says, “National open championships are always special and the Volvo China Open is an event I always enjoy and would love to win.”
But if he does, Kjeldsen is already in the Volvo World Match Play Championship, with Graeme McDowell through the Andalucía Masters, so the Volvo China Open win for the Dane would pave the way for the next placed player not otherwise qualified.
“It’s great that I have qualified already,” he says adding, “But that does not take away my desire to win the Volvo China Open.
“I have heard it is a tight golf course, that could suit my game and now I am back with my old coach Colin Smith and my game, and my confidence is returning,” so I come to China with high hopes.”
One of the most intelligent players on the European Tour, Kjeldsen also enjoys the cultural experience of travelling the world, something he describes as, “A huge privilege and I enjoy China very much and will probably finish my practice round early on Monday and take a look at the Giant Pandas. It is important not to focus 100% on golf all the time, to get some balance.”Danish star Søren Kjeldsen is one of just two players heading to the Volvo China Open without needing a win to qualify for the next month’s Volvo World Match Play Championship, having qualified late last year through the Andalucía Masters.
