The rise of Haotong LiThe rise of Haotong Li
Four years ago in April, China’s Haotong Li walked off the 18th green at the Mission Hills Golf Club’s Sandbelt Trails Course. He had just completed the first round of his first PGA TOUR Series-China tournament, the Mission Hills Haikou Open. He was 18 years old. That day comes to mind as players gather this week at the Sandbelt Trails Course for the first International Qualifying Tournament as PGA TOUR Series-China makes its return to the golf calendar, with players looking to become the next big thing to come out of China. For right now, however, that honor belongs to the 22-year-old from Hunan. At the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday, Li rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole of the tournament to seal his second European Tour triumph, beating Rory McIlroy by a stroke. The Dubai win was the latest in a long line of successes by Li, who burst on the scene winning three times during his 2014 PGA TOUR Series-China season and capturing Player of the Year honors. He subsequently qualified for the 2015 and 2016 Web.com Tour seasons, and in early 2016, Li traveled home to play in his national open and ended up winning the Volvo China Open. He accepted European Tour membership after the triumph in Beijing. Li’s upward trajectory continued at The Open Championship in 2017 when he fired a final-round 63 to tie for third, the best finish by a player from China in a major championship. His performance earned him invites to all four of golf’s 2018 major championships. That showing at Royal Birkdale, among several other top-10s, led to Li’s 17th-place finish on the European Tour’s 2017 Race to Dubai rankings. Finishing inside the top 20 on that list also garnered him the opportunity to play in his first World Golf Championships event outside of China—the 2018 Mexico Championship, coming in March. Happy and incredible were the only two words Li could come up with when asked to describe how he felt winning in Dubai and putting his name next to, among others, Seve Ballesteros, Ernie Els, Fred Couples, Tiger Woods, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and McIlroy, who have also won that tournament. Li also noted that the oversized, traditional Arabic coffee pot that serves as the tournament’s trophy left him “happy to lift that heavy thing.� “I think my game is in good position now, and especially after this week. It gives me a lot of confidence, especially (after) last week (when I) missed the cut (at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship),� he explained. When Li’s week began in Dubai, he was 60th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is projected to move to somewhere in the low 30s when the next Ranking is released Monday. Regardless of his number, it will be his career-high position—and place in the OWGR potentially will open even more PGA TOUR playing opportunities for Li. Besides the PGA TOUR events he already has on his busy 2018 playing calendar, more tournament invites very well could materialize. The top-64 players in the OWGR as of March 12 receive invitations to play in the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin, Texas (March 21-25). And any player inside the top-50 in the OWGR through the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (April 29) is invited to play at TPC Sawgrass and THE PLAYERS (May 10-13). When Li was still living in Florida during his Web.com Tour days, he spent many hours practicing at TPC Sawgrass’ renowned practice facility. He just hasn’t spent any time there during THE PLAYERS. From all appearances, that is about to change.
