Chengdu, 14 April 2011 - Australia’s Andre Stolz is gunning for another OneAsia win after taking home the Indonesia PGA Championship title on the Tour's season-opening event last month.
The seasoned professional continues his amazing comeback this year after having battled a career-threatening wrist injury from 2005, and is looking forward to playing against the region's leading players from OneAsia as well as the best of the European Tour at next week's US$3 million Volvo China Open.
“I am looking forward to a big year. I’ve come back with a different attitude to golf after my injury and I enjoy it more now instead of putting too much pressure on myself," said Stolz. "I want to go out and have fun and work hard, and win more tournaments this year."
The 40-year-old had his confidence boosted last month in Jakarta when he took home the winner's cheque of US$180,000.
"I have been playing well for quite a while now. To finally win after all the hard work put in... That's the biggest thing and I feel happy to finally have been able to do that.”
Having played the 2010 Luxehills Chengdu Open, OneAsia's season-opener last year, Stolz is also eager to return to a familiar venue at Luxehills International Country Club from April 21-24.
“I was playing pretty good at Luxehills on the first day last year but it got very cold on the second day and I struggled to adapt so I ended up missing the cut by one or two shots,” he recalled.
"I really liked the course though and it's a course I can see myself winning on. I'm just happy I will be there one month later than last year so hopefully the weather will be better. I've been checking on the temperature in Chengdu every day!"
Stolz hopes to live out one of his life's dreams next week, by taking home the title on the European co-sanctioned event.
“One of my goals as a young professional was to win on every tour in the world. I’ve actually won on pretty much every Tour in the world now, except for the European Tour. So if I win next week, that will finish off my list. I'm very excited about that."
Stolz, along with compatriots Kim Felton and Scott Strange, will lead the Australian Challenge in Chengdu next week.
Triple Major Champion Padriag Harrington and Spanish star Sergio Garcia will both join the contenders in the Volvo China Open.
Other OneAsia winners from last season, China's Liang Wenchong, Kiwi Michael Hendry, defending champion Y.E. Yang and Kim Dae-hyun of Korea, also feature in a strong line-up.
All events will be showcased on OneAsia's television platform with live coverage for four hours a day across all four tournament days, and broadcast to over 400 million homes in more than 40 countries.
Full coverage of OneAsia is available internationally, namely on ESPN Star Sports, Jupiter Golf Network, SBS Golf Channel, Fox International, Network Ten and Sky Sports NZ, among others.
For more information please visit www.volvochinaopen.com or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Notes to Editors:
Volvo
Volvo is golf’s most prolific sponsor; the 2011 Volvo China Open will be the 123rd event staged under the title sponsorship of Volvo. Volvo’s global golf portfolio is planned and managed by Volvo Event Management – Golf, which is owned 50% by Volvo Cars, 50% by Volvo Group. The Volvo company was inaugurated in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1927 and in 1999, Volvo Cars was sold to the Ford Motor Company, whilst Volvo Group remained independent. Today, Volvo Car Corporation, which is still headquartered in Gothenburg, is owned by Geely Automotive; Volvo Cars sells almost 350,000 cars per year, including its latest models, the award-winning Volvo S60 and Volvo V60. Volvo Group comprises six individual business areas; Volvo Aero, Volvo Buses, Volvo Construction Equipment, Volvo Financial Services, Volvo Penta and Volvo Trucks, which is the second largest manufacturer of heavy trucks in the world. Global sponsorships such as the Volvo China Open, the Volvo World Match Play Championship, the Volvo Golf Champions and the Volvo Ocean Race are shared between Volvo Cars and Volvo Group.
The Luxehills Golf Course – A Venue for World-Class Golf Tournaments
The Luxehills International Country Club is the golf club nearest to the city center of Chengdu. This 7335 yards, 18 holes and par 72 golf course was designed by Mark Hollinger, a renowned golf course designer of JMP Golf Design Group from California, USA. It is also part of Luxehills International Community, the most prominent real estate project in the South-West Region developed by Wide Horizon Real Estate Co. Ltd..The golf club is composed of a fully functional clubhouse in typical North American style and an 18-hole Championship golf course, which is the only golf course with the experience of consecutively hosting professional international tournaments in western China. Luxehills Golf Club has been awarded “China Top 10 Golf Clubs” in 2010.
About OneAsia
OneAsia is a non-profit organisation developed to maximize elite tournament opportunities in Asia-Pacific. The Founding members of OneAsia are the China Golf Association, the Korea Golf Tour, the Korea Golf Association and the PGA of Australia. The mission of OneAsia is not just to allow the region’s best players to gain access to more events, but to ultimately provide them with an alternative destination to the PGA Tour and the European Tour within Asia, thus retaining the best golfing talent in the region without compromising their development.
