Shenzhen, China, May 1: Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond believes his early season good form has placed him on the road map to success as he tees off as one of the genuine contenders for the Volvo China Open which starts on Thursday.

Jazz is currently in second place on the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings and has been on a red-hot streak since the end of 2018. He has notched seven top-five in his last 11 events which dates back to last December.

The world number 72, who credited his coach Peter Cowen for his achievements, got his season off to a flying start by winning his third Asian Tour title in Singapore and has already secured starts in the US PGA Championship in May and The Open Championship in July.

Jazz’s title ambitions at the Volvo China Open will be put to a stern test by a strong field that includes defending champion Alexander Bjork of Sweden, France’s Alexander Levy as well as the Chinese duo of Wu Ashun and Li Haotong, who is the highest ranked player at world number 39 on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) this week.

Li became the youngest winner of the tournament when he won in 2016 at the age of 20 while Wu lifted the Volvo China Open trophy in 2015. Levy is the only player to have won the Volvo China Open twice.

The Frenchman first won the title in 2014 when he cruised to a four stroke victory at Genzon Golf Club which is also this year’s host venue.

Did you know?

• Jazz Janewattananond’s real name is Atiwit but he switched to his nickname Jazz which was given by his father, a judge, due to the latter’s musical preference.
• Jazz has notched seven top-five in his last 11 events played worldwide, which dates back to last December.
• He won his third Asian Tour title at the season-opening SMBC Singapore Open and was on top of the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings before being dislodged by Australia’s Scott Hend who won his 10th Asian Tour title at the Maybank Championship in March.
• Jazz first played his way into the history books of the Asian Tour in 2010 when he became the youngest ever player, at the age of 14 years and 71 days, to make the halfway cut at the 2010 Asian Tour International in Bangkok.
• Jazz won his first Asian Tour title at the 2017 Bashundhara Bangladesh Open by four shots.
• The victory was particularly sweet for him as he finished outside the top-60 on the 2016 Order of Merit and missed the grade at the 2017 Qualifying School.
• Li Haotong became the youngest winner of the Volvo China Open when he won in 2016 at the age of 20.
• Wu Ashun emerged victorious in the 2015 edition of the Volvo China Open when he pipped England’s David Howell to the title by one shot.
• Alexander Levy is the only player to have won the Volvo China Open twice. He first won the title in 2014 when he cruised to a four stroke victory at Genzon Golf Club.
• Alexander Bjork became the first Swede to lift the prestigious Volvo China Open trophy last year.

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