Volvo China Open: Levy wins after play-off

Final leaderboard

-17 Alexander Levy*; Dylan Frittelli

-16 Pablo Larrazabal

-15 Bernd Wiesberger; Chris Wood

-14 Y.E Yang; Ross Fisher

-13 George Coetzee

*Levy won on first play-off hole.

Scroll down for full collated scores

Final day report

France's Alexander Levy won the Volvo China Open for the second time in four years after beating South Africa's Dylan Frittelli in a play-off in Beijing.

Levy birdied the 18th hole in regulation to complete a closing 67 and repeated the feat on the first extra hole after Frittelli missed his own longer attempt.

The pair had finished tied on 17 under par after overnight leader Frittelli could only manage a 74 in the final round at Topwin Golf and Country Club.

Frittelli began the day with a three-shot lead and was five clear when nearest challenger Pablo Larrazabal bogeyed the first two holes.

The 26-year-old was still four ahead with seven holes to play, before running up a double bogey on the 12th after his drive finished up against the base of a tree and forced him to take a penalty drop.

A birdie on the 15th - where he drove the green on the short par four - gave Frittelli a two-shot lead, but another errant tee shot on the next came to rest under a large boulder and led to a bogey.

Levy then carded his sixth birdie of the day on the 18th to catch Frittelli, who was unable to make a winning birdie on the same hole despite being able to get a favourable drop after hitting his approach over a hospitality tent to the left of the green. 

Larrazabal birdied the 18th to complete a closing 72 and finish outright third, a shot ahead of England's Chris Wood and last week's winner Bernd Wiesberger.

Day three report

South Africa's Dylan Frittelli will take a three-shot lead into the final day of the Volvo China Open after a second flawless round in succession in Beijing.

Frittelli followed a 63 on Friday with an equally impressive 64 in Saturday's third round to reach 19 under par at Topwin Golf and Country Club.

Overnight leader Pablo Larrazabal carded five birdies and three bogeys in his 70 to lie 16 under, with former champion Alexander Levy another four strokes back following a 71.

Larrazabal began the day with a three-shot lead and moved further ahead with a birdie on the second, but then three-putted the fourth and seventh, the latter mistake causing the Spaniard to give himself a sarcastic round of applause.

Frittelli had birdied the fourth, sixth and seventh to take over the lead and picked up another shot on the par-five eighth to move two shots clear before Larrazabal narrowed the gap on the 10th.

Both players birdied the 11th and 12th before Frittelli stretched his advantage to three shots with a birdie on the 15th and Larrazabal's third three-putt of the day on the next.

England's Chris Wood, who has not recorded a top-10 finish since shortly after winning the BMW PGA Championship last year, is in fourth place on 11 under after a 65 marred only by a solitary bogey on the 17th.

Defending champion Li Haotong is two shots further back alongside Soomin Lee, George Coetzee and Ross Fisher, who experienced contrasting fortunes in reaching nine under par.

Lee was penalised a shot for slow play on the 14th, turning a bogey into a double-bogey six in a round of 73, while Fisher made a hole-in-one on the sixth and an eagle two on the 15th in his 64.

Coetzee was one over par for the day playing the 18th, but saw his wayward approach bounce off a grandstand to the left of the green and finish just three feet from the hole to set up an eagle.

Day two report

Pablo Larrazabal takes a three-shot lead into day three of the Volvo China Open after a second round 66 in Beijing.

The Spaniard, who went round in 64 on day one, dropped his first shot of the tournament on his 35th hole and finished 14 under par as he looks to claim a fifth European Tour victory.

South Africa's Dylan Frittelli continued his recent excellent form as a course record-equalling round of 63 tied him for second with overnight leader Alexander Levy at 11 under par.

South Korea's Soomin Lee went round in 65 to sit 10 under, while Fritelli's compatriot George Coetzee and Belgium's Thomas Detry are a further two shots behind at the halfway stage.

England's Graeme Storm, who beat Rory McIlroy in a play-off to win the South African Open earlier this year, is seven under after a round of 68, making him the highest-placed Brit in the field.

Day one report

France's Alexander Levy made the ideal start in his bid for a second Volvo China Open title with a brilliant opening 63 in Beijing.

Levy, who has finished in the top 30 in each of his last seven appearances in China, fired nine birdies in a flawless round to finish a shot ahead of Spain's Pablo Larrazabal.

After starting on the back nine at Topwin Golf and Country Club, which offers spectacular views of the Great Wall of China, Levy birdied the 13th, 15th and 17th to reach the turn in 33.

The 26-year-old then birdied four holes in a row from the second and finished in style with further gains on the eighth and ninth as the early starters made the most of calm morning conditions. 

Levy, who finished eighth in the Shenzhen International last week - at the same venue where he won this event in 2014 - told Sky Sports: "I played really good golf at the weekend, shooting eight under and three under the last (two) rounds. I tried to follow what I did last week and I followed it pretty well.

"I hit some good drives, good irons in some good spots and wedged very close to the flag which makes it a little bit easier to make the short putts.

"I like the golf courses in China, the last one and this one, but the golf is different day after day and I will try my best this week to do like what I did today."

Larrazabal carded eight birdies in an error-free 64 which left him three shots ahead of Sweden's Peter Hanson, England's James Morrison, France's Raphael Jacquelin and the South African pair of Dean Burmester and George Coetzee.

Defending champion Li Haotong was part of a large group on three under par which included last week's winner Bernd Wiesberger and former US PGA champion YE Yang.

England's Anthony Wall, who is making his 500th European Tour start this week, recorded a one-under-par 71.

"My first event was down in South Africa, which I won I think three years later," Wall said. "I wasn't at the races that first week but I've learnt and stuck at it to make a decent career for myself."

American Ryan Dillon struggled to an opening 77 but could at least celebrate a hole-in-one with a seven iron from 180 yards on the 13th.

Final round collated scores

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

271 Alexander Levy (Fra) 63 70 71 67 (won at first play-off hole), Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 70 63 64 74

272 Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 64 66 70 72

273 Chris Wood 72 68 65 68, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 69 68 69 67

274 Ross Fisher 73 70 64 67, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 69 68 71 66

275 George Coetzee (Rsa) 67 69 71 68

276 Jorge Campillo (Spa) 68 70 70 68, Soomin Lee (Kor) 69 65 73 69

277 Haotong Li (Chn) 69 71 67 70, Mike Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 73 66 71 67

278 Michael Hendry (Nzl) 72 67 71 68, Justin Walters (Rsa) 71 70 68 69, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 70 72 66 70, Kyong-jun Moon (Kor) 69 71 66 72, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 67 71 71 69

279 Phachara Khongwatmai (Tha) 70 73 68 68, Brandon Stone (Rsa) 70 71 70 68, Rikard Karlberg (Swe) 69 71 71 68, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 69 71 72 67, Renato Paratore (Ita) 74 68 68 69, Julien Quesne (Fra) 74 68 69 68

280 Yi Cao (Chn) 68 72 67 73, Romain Wattel (Fra) 72 71 66 71, Rak Cho (Kor) 72 70 67 71, Ashun Wu (Chn) 71 70 68 71, David Lipsky (USA) 69 71 69 71, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 68 69 71 72, Johan Carlsson (Swe) 70 70 68 72

281 Peter Uihlein (USA) 72 66 71 72, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 71 67 70 73, Joost Luiten (Ned) 68 69 76 68, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 71 67 73 70, James Morrison 67 74 68 72

282 Ricardo Gouveia (Por) 74 67 67 74, S.S.P Chawrasia (Ind) 71 72 68 71, Sam Walker 69 74 70 69, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 70 70 69 73, Matteo Manassero (Ita) 70 70 72 70, Nacho Elvira (Spa) 73 70 70 69

283 Marcel Siem (Ger) 71 70 74 68, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 72 66 71 74, Pep Angles (Spa) 70 68 71 74, Matthew Southgate 71 72 69 71, Paul Peterson (USA) 69 69 71 74, Graeme Storm 69 68 75 71

284 Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 72 71 67 74, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 73 67 72 72, Jason Norris (Aus) 70 73 66 75, Robert Rock 72 70 72 70, Bernd Ritthammer (Ger) 70 67 74 73, Sam Brazel (Aus) 73 70 67 74, Thomas Detry (Bel) 70 66 73 75, Bradley Dredge 72 68 72 72

285 Lucas Bjerregaard (Den) 71 72 70 72, David Howell 71 71 69 74, Chris Paisley 73 70 67 75

286 Brett Rumford (Aus) 71 71 70 74, Jeunghun Wang (Kor) 73 66 74 73, (a) Wo-cheng Ye (Chn) 74 69 73 70

287 Richie Ramsay 71 72 72 72, Zi-han She (Chn) 73 70 75 69

289 Jin-ho Choi (Kor) 69 70 74 76

290 Dean Burmester (Rsa) 67 70 73 80, Matthew Guyatt (Aus) 72 71 72 75

294 Hong-fu Wu (Chn) 72 70 76 76