YE Yang Wins the 2010 Volvo China Open

With a two shot victory over Welsh pair Rhys Davies and Steven Dodd, South Korean star YE Yang became the 2010 Volvo China Open winner. The 38-year-old golf player is the first ‘Major' champion and the first Korean to win China's national open golf championship. Yang will be taking the US$416,660 (approx €311,708) first prize.

"I am very happy and proud to win the Volvo China Open; any national open championship is special, but I feel very comfortable and welcome here in China and I will treasure this victory for a very long time," said Yang. "I would like to come back next year to defend my crown," he added.

Aside from the money prize, Yang also gains guaranteed entry to the Volvo World Match Play Championship and automatic qualification for the WGC HSBC Champions in Shanghai and the WGC Bridgestone Invitational later in the year.

As for Yang’s most fierce opponents, both Davies and Dodd seem to have handled the defeat quite well. "I had some chances around the turn but a couple of bad tee shots cost me in the end," said Rhys Davies.

"There seems to be something special about the Volvo China Open where I seem to play consistently well," added Steven Dodd.

On the other hand, the highest ranked Chinese player was the country's number one Liang Wenchong, who finished his national open championship in 17th place. Since the Volvo China Open joined the European Tour in 2004, there was no Chinese golfer to win the event.