While the PGA Tour proceeds with The Heritage this week, the European Tour continues play in Asia. The Volvo China Open starts on Thursday at the Luxehills International Country Club for a $3 million purse. Defending champion Y.E. Yang leads the outright odds.

Yang is the top-ranked player competing in the golf tournament after beating Ryhs Davies by two shots last year. The South Korean could become the first player to win back-to-back China Open titles. He finished tied for 20th at the Masters and was a runner-up in the Honda Classic.

Sergio Garcia is second in the outright odds with four top 20 finishes in six events in 2011. He won the 2009 HSBC Champions, so he can perform in China. Padraig Harrington is next in the odds but has missed two cuts in his last three tournaments, and has only two top 10 finishes in his last eight times out.

Simon Dyson has some value after placing seventh at the Malaysian Open and fifth at the Sicilian Open, and he has a good record in Asia. Rafael Cabrera-Bello finished fourth in Malaysia and third at the Qatar Masters, giving him six top 20 finishes and three top 10’s in eight appearances.

Gregory Bourdy was the runner-up in Malaysia and is getting better with each tournament in 2011. Davies is a decent longshot bet who seems to be in the mix a lot at the end after coming in runner-up at the Trophee Hassan II.

Volvo China Open Outright Odds (provided by Eurobet)

Y.E. Yang: 10/1

Sergio Garcia: 12/1

Padraig Harrington: 14/1

Danny Willett: 25/1

Gregory Bourdy: 25/1

Rafael Cabrera-Bello: 25/1

Simon Dyson: 25/1

Seong-Yul Noh: 28/1

Alexander Noren: 33/1

Joost Luiten: 33/1

Rhys Davies: 33/1

Soren Hansen: 33/1

Soren Kjeldson: 33/1

Stephen Gallacher: 33/1

Wen-Chong Liang: 33/1

Chris Wood: 40/1

Alejandro Canizares: 50/1

Brett Rumford: 50/1

David Horsey: 50/1

Gregory Havret: 50/1

James Kingston: 50/1

Jamie Donaldson: 50/1

Jeev Milkha Singh: 50/1

Johan Edfors: 50/1

Nicolas Colsaerts: 50/1

Richie Ramsay: 50/1

Tetsuji Hiratsuka: 50/1