Familiarity Fuels Xu's Title Defence Hopes

Chongqing, China: The CLPG Tour is in southwest China this week for the RMB800,000 Kove China Sports Lottery Chongqing Women’s Open with defending champion Xu Ying looking for her first win of the season.

In 2025, when she was a 16-year-old amateur, Xu dominated at the Jack Nicklaus-designed KingRun Nanshan Golf Club, leading from wire-to-wire and posting a five-stroke win. A few months later she picked up her second CLPG Tour victory as an amateur, winning the Golf Liquor Challenge in Guangdong.

After finishing as the leading individual at the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship for the Espirito Santo Trophy in Singapore in October, Xu turned pro. In only her second start as a professional, she won the Fila Golf Women’s Classic in Beijing.

“I’m really happy to be back at Qinglong. Everything feels great and familiar here. I hope to play my best golf this week,” said Zhuhai native Xu who was equal sixth last month at the GolfJoy Women’s Open at Mission Hills Golf Club in Guangdong.

“I arrived in Chongqing on Sunday. I wasn’t the earliest player to get here. I’m here to practice and get a good feel for the course. I want to fully understand the strategy and execute every shot well.”

Xu, 174th in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, said she was ‘quite familiar’ with KingRun Nanshan after finishing eighth at the mountainous course the year before her maiden win. She felt this would be an advantage this week.

“I think coming back for a third time, I can read the course even better. But going low might not be easy. It depends on current form and how tough the course plays. Still, with two prior experiences, I see the course more clearly this time,” said the lean teenager, currently fourth in the CLPG Tour Ranking.

Notables in the field this week include GolfJoy Women’s Open winner Ren Yijia, Thai veteran Sherman Santwiwatthanaphong, Shi Yuli, winner of last year’s season-ending CLPG Tour Championship, and top junior Li Menghan, 52nd in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

Zhou Shiyuan will undoubtedly be motivated this week in front of her hometown fans. The rookie pro won the tournament in 2024 as an amateur, her second of back-to-back titles that year.

Amateur Peng Yanxuan, another local, said she knows ‘Qinglong Nanshan inside and out’. The teenager, 293rd in the WAGR, has won twice on the CLPGQ development circuit.

Peng said: “I’ve birdied every hole, so I have high expectations for this week. My technique and physical fitness have improved significantly this year. Golf is a sport that requires experience. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gained more insights. Competing in my hometown fills me with a sense of pride.”

Evidence of Peng’s improvement came at the GolfJoy tournament where, playing in the final group on the Mission Hills Olazabal Course, she finished equal third, her best CLPG Tour result.

She said: “My last tournament was a relatively good result for me. I achieved my best personal finish. I’m still an amateur and I definitely didn’t do everything perfectly in the final round. But I believe such experiences will help ease my nervousness and hesitation.”