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Qing Yuan, Guangdong Province, 16 March - A strong finish over the windswept Lion Lake course saw Yuan Tian surge to a two-shot victory in the Volvo China Open Southern China Qualifying event today.

Whilst his four-over-par total of 148 for the two rounds wouldn’t, under normal circumstances, be considered anything special, it belied an excellent flourish over the final few holes in exceptionally tough conditions.

Having started the day three shots off the lead, and with a further three dropped shots on the outward nine, the 29-year-old from Shenzhen showed little sign of taking one of the three available qualifying spots for the showpiece Rmb20 million Volvo China Open to be held in Chengdu in April as he began the back nine.

To his credit, Yuan managed to move his game up a gear on the back nine and played attacking golf despite the tough conditions, and was rewarded handsomely for his efforts.

The rewards started in earnest at the par three 14^th where he stroked in an eighteen foot putt for birdie. He then followed this up with a spectacular three wood from the rough to 10 feet at the par five 15^th, only to see his putt for eagle slide agonizingly past the hole.

Clearly with his adrenalin up, he drove the 315-yard 17^th hole only to see his ball bury itself in savage rough at the back of the green. In what was probably one the most important shots of his round Yuan managed to hack the ball onto the green and salvage his par and then saw out the final hole with another par.

The second qualifying spot was taken by Li Fang-yi with rounds of 74, 76 for a 150 total, while third spot was secured by Chen Ding-gen, but only after having to endure a sudden death play-off, which needed three trips down the 18^th hole before eventually overcoming Gao Jie with a birdie.

The Volvo China Open takes place at Luxehills International Country Club in Chengdu from 21^st to 24^th April with the winner earning a cheque worth US$500,000 and a place in the elite 24-man field for the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain a month later.

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Final Result (top 20)