Brett Rumford In The Bag: Volvo China Open Winning Clubs
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Brett Rumford delivered a short-game masterclass to win by four and become only the 31st player to win consecutive official titles on The European Tour at the Volvo China Open.
After a playoff victory at the previous week’s Ballantine’s Championship, the Australian had it much easier at Binhai Lake when he made five birdies in ten holes to turn the final round into a procession.
The 35-year-old did drop a couple shots over the closing holes, but a 16-under-par total was enough to win by four from Finland’s Mikko Ilonen.
Rumford – who was 138th in The Race to Dubai standings a fortnight ago – now leads the way with €811,806, having won €775,406 in his past two tournaments.
“As with last week I’m kind of speechless at the moment,” said Rumford. “It’s quite surreal – it’s the first time I’ve actually played the week after a win so I’m more than pleased. It’s hard to get my head around it at the moment. I managed to get up and down when I really needed to. There are some very tight lies round the perimeters of the greens, so it was tricky.
“My putter was also really on song, as it was last week. It puts a lot of pressure on your opponent when you’re saving par all the time.”
Rumford started the day one clear of Ilonen, but extended that advantage to three with a flawless front nine of 33. The Fin pegged his lead back to one with birdies at 10 and 11, but Rumford edged further in front with birdies at 12, 13 and 14.
With Ilonen dropping shots, Rumford was suddenly six clear with four to play, allowing him the luxury of dropping shots at the 15th and 17th and still easing to victory.
France’s Victor Dubuisson finished one back from Ilonen, with first round leader Robert-Jan Derksen taking fourth.
Below are the clubs that Rumford used to claim his second victory in two weeks:
Driver: Titleist 913D2
Fairway woods: Titleist 913F.d Low Spin
Hybrid: Titleist 913H.d
Irons: Titleist 712U CB
Wedge: Titleist Vokey Design SM4 & Titleist Spin Milled C-C SM2 Series
Putter: Titleist Scotty Cameron Select Mid and Long
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Shoes: FootJoy ICON
Glove: FootJoy SciFlex
