Li Haotong, who shot a 65 on Friday, is looking to become the first player from China to ever lead after any round of a major championship.
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HAIKOU, CHINA—England’s William Harrold shot a 7-under-par 65 to share the 36-hole lead with towering American Joseph Winslow (69) at the PGA TOUR Series-China International Qualifying Tournament No. 2 at Mission Hills Haikou’s Sandbelt Trails Course. Chinese Taipei’s Chunkang “Jacob� Hung (74), the first-round leader, was third at 4-under, one ahead of Ireland’s Brian O’Donovan (73), a Mission Hills Shenzhen teaching pro, and the American trio of Jesse Speirs (71), Cody Paladino (70) and Kevin Techakanokboon (70). South Korea-based Argentine Martin Kim (69) is among a group at 2-under. Others in contention include Hong Kong’s Motin Yeung (72) and Japan’s Junya Kameshiro (68), in a tie for 13th at 1-under, while Malaysia’s Arie Irawan (69), moved to even-par and a share of 18th. The top-15 finishers will earn full cards and the next 25 and ties will be conditionally exempt for a Series that rewards the top-five money winners with places on the Web.com Tour, the path to the PGA TOUR. The 6-foot-5 Winslow carded his sixth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th to set the clubhouse lead. The 25-year-old bogeyed the par-5 first and doubled the par-4 17th, but in between birdied Nos. 3, 6, 7, 8 and 12 before closing his round with his 13th birdie in 36 holes. The 25-year-old native of Kansas is on track to earn a full card on the Tour but will be mindful of last month’s PGA TOUR Latinoamerica qualifier in Bogota, Colombia, when he started the final day in second place before a closing 80 left him 17th and with only conditional status for 2018 on that circuit. “I feel pretty good. I’ve had a couple of pretty solid rounds out there. Today was more gritty, while yesterday was pretty solid in general. it’s been fun, but I feel like my best golf is still ahead out here,� Winslow said. “I just want to keep playing solid on the weekend, keep executing the strategy. I want to play the par-5s a little bit better and clean up a little bit of the slop. My wedge play today wasn’t quite as solid, so I’d like to clean that up a bit, stay focused and keep playing my game.� Harrold, who shot an opening 64 in an Asian Tour event in Xiamen, China, at the end of last year, teed off on No. 10 and carded eight birdies, including three in a row, twice, from Nos. 11-13 and Nos. 7-9. The 29-year-old was delighted with the improvement from his opening 74. “I’ve had three birdies in a row before, but I can’t remember doing it twice in a round,� said Harrold, who won a European Challenge Tour event in 2014 and has two victories on the Euro Pro Tour. “I set myself up much better today and hit nice iron shots into good positions on the green. I also holed some good putts, and that’s not always easy on these greens, which have a lot of slopes. I putted nicely in the first round, but my swing wasn’t as good as today.� The 5-foot-3 O’Donovan played with Winslow for the first two days and enjoyed the group, despite the big difference in height and length off the tee. The 30-year-old native of Ireland played his own game and kept himself in contention for Tour golf. “Joseph’s hitting his second ball from a different place to me, places I don’t see on the golf course,� said the Irishman. “I remember I hit a really good drive on one hole, and he knocked a 3-wood about 30 yards past me. That was depressing, but it’s been good fun.� Kim showed his pedigree, having played on the Korean Tour for three years and on the Japan Golf Tour last year, although he failed to retain his card. The strongly built Argentine—whose grandparents moved from South Korea to Buenos Aires— is just three shots off the lead as seeks a PGA TOUR Series-China card and a path to the U.S. “It was a good round, I think. Even when I made mistakes, I didn’t lose focus, so that’s why I could finish under-par today,� Kim said. “I’m here because I want to be on the PGA TOUR, so first I have to get my card.�
In the final round of the OHL Classic at Mayakoba, Patton Kizzire holds off nerves and a hard-charging Rickie Fowler with a bogey-free 67 at El Camaleon Golf Club. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Kizzire, who won twice on the Web.com Tour in 2015, enters the winner’s circle for the first time on the PGA TOUR to earn 500 FedExCup points and entry into the 2018 Sentry Tournament of Champions, THE PLAYERS Championship, the Masters, the PGA Championship and other select invitational events on TOUR. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Kizzire is a fast starter. Of his three top-10s last season, when he was 99th in the FedExCup, his best was a runner-up at the season-opening Safeway Open. He entered the last round at Silverado with a one-shot lead over Scott Piercy but shot a 2-under 70 to drop one behind winner Brendan Steele. Two years ago, also in his season debut, Kizzire tied for second at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. And now, after missing the cut at the Safeway (a rare hiccup) and a solid Sanderson Farms Championship (T10) and Shriners (T4), he wins in his fourth start of the new season. Don’t count him out at this week’s RSM Classic at Sea Island, either. He lives there. 2. El Camaleon’s first hole was a brute. The 438-yard par-4 played to a 4.321 average, hardest of the final round, and gave players fits in the third round, too. Charles Howell III (T4) and Patrick Rodgers (T14) each double-bogeyed it. Martin Piller (T4) triple-bogeyed it. That was particularly hard on Rodgers and Piller, who were embarking on a 36-hole Sunday. “I just tried to stay patient and say, Okay, you’ve got 35 more holes to make it up,� Piller said. “I didn’t hit the tee shot that bad, but it got up in the wind and went right. It was only like a foot out of bounds. The provisional went down the middle, and then I hit it on and promptly three-putted.� 3. Rickie Fowler is a top-10 machine. Fowler, who was making his season debut and his first start at Mayakoba, shot 65-67-67-67 and might have won but for the fact that he bogeyed the par-5 fifth hole and couldn’t buy a putt in the middle of his round, from holes 7-12. Last season Fowler had 10 top-10 finishes, including a win at The Honda Classic, in 21 starts. Now he’s one-for-one in top-10s for the new season, and his earnings of $766,800 for solo second put him over the $30 million mark in career earnings at age 28. Not a bad consolation prize. 4. Hard work pays off. Martin Piller (65, T4) played just three practice holes on Tuesday, and none Wednesday. He putted. “I hadn’t been putting the way I normally do,� said Piller, who will turn 32 on Tuesday. “So I just camped out on the putting green. I’m an okay ball-striker, but if my putting is good I’ll be in good shape.� His putting at Mayakoba was beyond good. Piller took just 22 putts in the final round Sunday and totaled 97 for the tournament, eight fewer than the next best, Fowler and Russell Knox. “I made a bunch from the fringes this week,� Piller said. 5. Si Woo Kim is going to win this tournament. Kim (65, solo third), who became the youngest winner of THE PLAYERS Championship last season, was 6-under through 13 holes in the final round but blocked his tee shot into the hazard and double-bogeyed the 14th hole. He bounced back with birdies at Nos. 15 and 17 to notch his best result since coming out on top at TPC Sawgrass last May. In 2015, Kim was tied for third at the halfway mark at El Camaleon but fell back with weekend rounds of 72-70 that saw him finish T17. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Kizzire was four for four in scrambling in the final round, and 13 of 18 (13th best) for the week. He took just 107 putts over the four rounds, tied for fifth best in the field, and hit 54 of 72 greens in regulation, tied for seventh best. 2. The winner was one of four players who went bogey-free in the final round, the others being Brian Stuard (65, T9), Charles Howell (66, T4) and Ryan Moore (68, T6). 3. Fowler was second in both average driving distance (299.2 yards), which was not a terribly important stat at El Camaleon, and putts per round (26.25), which was. 4. Charles Howell III achieved his T4 finish, going 66-66 in the third and fourth rounds, the old-fashioned way: hitting fairways and greens. He hit 42 of 56 fairways, tied for 12th best (and a crucial stat at tree-lined El Camaleon), and 59 of 72 greens in regulation, tied for second best. 5. It was a great week for Mexico in many ways, especially with the scores. Four of the five Mexicans in the field made the cut, a record in the 11-year history of the OHL. Abraham Ancer, who has dual U.S./Mexico citizenship, went 65-68 to finish T9 and lead the native sons.  TOP THREE VIDEOS Rooftop rob hangout Hanging on the edge Better than birdie for Byrd
Surprise leader Matthew Wolff, playing in just his second major, enters Sunday’s final round of the U.S. Open with a 2-stroke lead. Can he hold on at Winged Foot?
