Tournament: Hangzhou Open
Venue: Hangzhou West Lake Golf Club, Hangzhou, China
Hashtag: #HangzhouOpen
Hangzhou Open preview:
Jamie Rutherford is looking to reignite his promotion charge when he tees it up at this week’s Hangzhou Open at Hangzhou West Lake Golf Club, the penultimate event on the 2025 Road to Mallorca.
Rutherford is targeting his first promotion to the DP World Tour and has come close in each of the past two years, finishing just outside the promotion places in 2023, with a lip-out on the 72nd hole at the Rolex Grand Final supported by The R&A in 2024 seeing him miss out by a single shot.
The Englishman sits 18th in the Road to Mallorca Rankings, and with two events remaining and the top 20 graduating to the Golf’s Global Tour at its conclusion, is hoping past experiences will help over the next fortnight as he looks to cement his position inside the promotion places.
“The more experiences you have can only help,” he said.
“Obviously, I’ve been on the wrong end of it a couple of times, but I’ve learnt a lot from those situations. I’ve learnt things to do better. I know if I can piece together a nice week this week and get prepared for Mallorca, it’s in my hands.
“A lot of people would be really happy to be in the position I’m in. I’m in a position where if I play good golf for two events, I am going to have my card. That’s where my focus is.”
Rutherford has endured a difficult run of form on the HotelPlanner Tour, which started at the GAC Rosa Challenge Tour in Poland, where he missed the cut.
The 33-year-old believes that despite slipping towards the top 20 cut-off, his game is in a good place ahead of the second of back-to-back events in China.
“Obviously I’ve not had the stretch of golf I wanted and last week went about as bad as it possibly could be but game-wise, I feel good,” he added.
“My game is in a much better position than it looks like it is.
“It’s difficult and I’ve been in a good position for most of the season, but I’ve got to try and put a positive spin on it.”
Rutherford finished in a tie for 22nd at the inaugural Hangzhou Open last year after closing with a four under par 67.
The Englishman is pleased to be back at a course he likes, and is hoping his accuracy off the tee could give him an edge this week.
“It’s a good solid track here,” he said.
“You’ve got to do everything well if you’re going to contend here. There’s a decent amount of rough and it’s relatively wide off the tee which is going to mean a lot of drivers for me. I tend to hit the ball nice and straight so if I can that, it should suit me well.”
Rutherford joins a strong field at Hangzhou West Lake Golf Club which includes JC Ritchie and Renato Paratore, both three-time winners on the HotelPlanner this season. As well as the top 68 available players on the Road to Mallorca, 48 China Tour players will also tee it up in Hangzhou, including current Order of Merit leader Yanhan Zhou.
The first round of the Hangzhou Open gets under way at 6:30am local time on Thursday with Rutherford teeing off alongside Chinese duo Huang Zijie and Tao Deng at 7:40am.
