15th April, 2009: Volvo China Open debutant Colin Montgomerie, Europe’s 2010 Ryder Cup captain marches on to his 500th European Tour start this week before commencing his second 500 in Beijing at the national open golf championship of China.

500 European Tour championship starts, 31 victories on the circuit he dominated for a decade or more, European Ryder Cup captain for 2010 Colin Montgomerie starts his second 500 events with a maiden appearance in the 2009 Volvo China Open in Beijing.

Monty, with nine Volvo-sponsored titles already to his name makes his bid for a tenth with a maiden Volvo China Open victory on debut, and he has three very clear reasons for teeing-it-up at Beijing CBD International Golf Club from 16th – 19th April.

“First, the new qualifying criteria [for the Volvo World Match Play Championship] will certainly make it tough for me to qualify, but you can be sure I’ll be doing all I can to secure my place in the field, starting at the Volvo China Open,” he says, referring to the fact that the Volvo China Open winner gains automatic entry to the 16-man elite field for the world’s most enduring match play championship.

The 45-year-old Scot’s second reason for entering the Beijing showpiece is an early opportunity to run the rule over potential Ryder Cup prospects.

He says, “I think it's a great opportunity of mine to captain players that I have competed with and will compete with over the next year and a half,” adding, “I’ve been listening and taking heed of what the players have been saying, and I can continue to do that by playing alongside the guys who will form the nucleus of my team to take on the USA in Wales next year.”

Monty’s third big reason for playing in the Volvo China Open is that he has an excellent record in Volvo-sponsored events, commenting, “I have won nine of them if I remember correctly, of which I am very proud and of course I won the Volvo Order of Merit for seven successive years and I think the European Tour has a great deal to be grateful to Volvo for over the past 21 years.”

The recently-appointed Ryder Cup captain enjoys a fine playing record in China too, with a hat-trick of victories in the PRC, including the TCL Classic, the Hong Kong Open and the Macau Open.

And, with a growing reputation as a golf course designer, Montgomerie has three signature courses already in play, Haikou Meishi, Nanshan West Donghai, and Zhuhai Golden Gulf GC and a fourth, the 27-hole layout at Liuxi Hot Spring Resort now in the design stage.

Shiv Kapur and S.S.P. Chowrasia will be playing at the Volvo China Open.