Haotong

Li

The 26-year-old Li, who dropped a 40-foot putt for birdie to win on the first hole of sudden death, led after each of the first three rounds at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried in Munich, Germany. But a 2-under 70 on Sunday opened the door for Pieters, who carded a 5-under 65 to finish regulation tied with Li at 22-under 266. “Ten months ago... I just literally decided to quit golf. Somehow, where I am now, it’s hard to describe,” Li said afterward. “I had no idea I could win this playoff. Luckily, things happened for me again.” Not only did Li end a four-year win drought, but also he was one of five players, not otherwise exempt, in the top 20 of the DPWT rankings upon the completion Sunday’s event to secure their spot in the 150th Open Championship. Joining him in the field at St. Andrews next month are England’s Jordan Smith (No. 11), who finished T-8 in Munich for his fifth top-10 of the season, fellow Englishman Sam Horsfield (No. 15) and Spaniards Adri Arnaus (No. 13) and Pablo Larrazábal (No. 8), who finished T-5 in Munich. Li is not in the field for this week’s DPWT event, the Horizon Irish Open at Mount Juliet Estate in Kilkenny, Ireland.

The 26-year-old Li, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, finished seven shots behind winner Nicolai Hojgaard at Al Hamra GC and tied for third with Austria’s Lukas Nemecs, Frenchman Matthieu Pavon and Spaniard Adrian Otaegui. He’s sticking around in the UAE for the third straight week (MC at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship) and will tee it up again at Al Hamra GC for this week’s Ras al Khaimah Classic. Li, who moved up from No. 369 to 293 in the OWGR, missed 14-of-18 cuts during the 2021 calendar year and dipped as low as 460th in the ranking.

Playing with overnight leader and past champ Henley, the 26-year-old climbed within one of him after birdies at 5, 9 and 10, but played his final eight in 1-over, outbalancing two circles at 14 and 18 with a bogey-5 at 13 (3-putt from 49'2") and a double bogey-6 at 16 (errant tee ball). On eight (of 14) fairways and 14 greens in regulation, he lost strokes off-the-tee (-0.143) and on-the-green (-0.698), but gained 1.041 on approach. The Shanghai native, T1 in total birdies with 19, will play out of the third-to-last pairing in R4 with past champ Matt Kuchar. His career best on TOUR in 40 prior events is solo 3rd at the 2017 Open (Royal Birkdale) in his Open debut, where he closed with 7-under 63, and this is just his second time in the top 10 after 54 holes in a TOUR event, joining the 2015-16 WGC-HSBC in China, where he was T3 before fading to T7 (66-69-66-72). If Li were to hang on for a top-10 finish tomorrow, it would gain him an exemption into next week’s American Express (if he chooses to accept it). See link below to post-round comments.

The Shanghai native, who turned pro in 2011 and missed the cut here in 2016, also on a sponsor invite (69-69), has never held exempt status on the PGA TOUR. He owns three top 10s in 40 events, two in stroke-play, the first: a T7 at the 2015 WGC-HSBC in his home country, where he was in the top 10 after each round, and really burst onto the scene with a career-TOUR and major-best solo 3rd at the 2017 Open (Royal Birkdale), where he closed with a career-low 7-under 63. That finish, while best of 38 Open debutants, left him 111 FedExCup points shy of Special Temporary Membership, and then missed the cut at the PGA Championship three weeks later and at the Wyndham the following week (sponsor invite). The 26-year-old, who broke a months-long slide with a solo 2nd four weeks ago at the Volvo China Open, matched his career low on TOUR (x2) with yesterday’s 63, and chased with six birdies today against one bogey on 13 greens in regulation. At halfway, he currently ranks 10th SG: Approach (3.669) and 8th SG: Putting (3.680), including a 2.154 SGP today. Notably, Li led the 102nd PGA (TPC Harding Park) by two after 36 holes in 2020 before fading to T17 (67-65-73-69). See link below to post-round comments.

The 26-year-old from China is playing this week on a sponsor’s invite and taking full advantage of the opportunity so far. He opened his week on the 10th tee with a tough start. Li missed a birdie look from inside of five feet but rebounded with a 12'11" par-saving putt on the following hole. The rest is history as he traded eight birdies with one bogey on his way around Waialae Country Club. Spending most of his time on the DP World Tour, Li missed 14-of-18 cuts during the 2021 calendar year and has dipped to 460th in the OWGR. He was sitting inside of the top 100 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit but hasn’t found his groove since the return to action. Perhaps today’s round could provide that much-needed spark.

The 25-year-old Li is making his third start in the British Masters but hasn’t made an appearance since the 2018 edition at Walton Heath where he finished T-8. The two-time European Tour winner hasn’t played since the Magical Kenya Open in March, when he withdrew from the event after a first-round 75. He’s posted just two subpar rounds in nine rounds of competition in 2021. Li launched himself into the center of conversation this past September when he held a two-stroke lead after two rounds of the PGA Championship before finishing T-17. The performance made him the first player from China to hold a lead or co-lead after any round in a major championship and marked his first 36-hole lead/co-lead on the PGA Tour. Last season, Li made 17 starts in Euro Tour events but saw weekend action just nine times.

After opening with 67-65, the World No. 114 led by two over six players. Playing out of the final twosome with Tommy Fleetwood (70), he mustered six (of 14) fairways and 10 greens in regulation, gaining 1.319 strokes around but losing 1.395 off-the-tee and 1.010 on approach. The 25-year-old conjured two birdie-3s at holes 7 and 12 (hole-out from 22'2" away), outbalanced by three bogey-5s at 5, 14 and 16, and double bogey-6 at 13 (lost tee ball). He registered a commercial 1.900 putts per GIR and -1.497 SG: Putting with 30 total putts. Li put in a lot of extra work on the range after a bogey-free 65 on Day 2, and was 1-under thru 12 holes on Saturday (tied for the lead), but an errant tee shot at 13 (probably stuck in a tree) led to a return to the tee box and he ended up playing his final six holes in 4-over.

This is Li’s fourth consecutive PGA with a best of T36 last year at Bethpage (73-69-70-74). Overall, it’s his 12th major with one prior top 10, a solo 3rd at the 2017 Open (Royal Birkdale), which is also his best on the PGA TOUR. He checked in this week off a T75 (of 78) at last week’s WGC, preceded by a missed cut by four at the Memorial (74-77). On four (of 14) fairways and 14 greens in regulation, the 25-year-old posted 0.239 SG: Off-the-Tee, 2.513 SG: Approach, 0.387 SG: Around, 3.065 SG: Tee-to-Green, and 2.761 SG: Putting. He penciled five birdies at holes 1, 2, 5, 9 and 10, three from between 12 and 23 feet, and also saved par two times from between six and nine feet. Li, who opened with a four-birdie one-bogey 67, owns six international victories, most recently the 2018 Dubai Desert Classic.

The Chinese golfer has missed both previous cuts at Abu Dhabi but is changing the script this week and now has two rounds in the 60s having never previously broken 70 on the lengthy par 72. He scribbled down five straight pars today after starting at No. 10 but then made his move with four birdies in six holes. They came at 15, 17, 18 and 2. He lost some fluency after that and dropped a shot at 7 (just his second bogey of the week) but that’s still an excellent two days’ work. Li said later: “Similar to yesterday. It’s been grind whole day, and I mean, especially last few holes is not that easy. My short game improved a lot over last year, and I think that’s the reason I get the result, I get a lot of up-and-down from there.”

His afternoon lap in the tougher scoring conditions leaves him three back from leading pair Shaun Norris and Renato Paratore. The 24-year-old from China had missed the cut on his only two previous appearances here (2018 and 2019) but looks in good position to make a mark this week. Li birdied three of the first eight holes (3, 5 and 8) although swallowed a bogey at 9. He got the shot back at 10 and moved into the top ten with birdie at 16 and then the top five with another par breaker at 18. Li didn’t have his best in the second half of 2019 but closed the year by building some confidence with second place when returning home to play the China Tour Championship at the start of December.