Li Hao Tong becomes No.1-ranked golfer from China
PANAMA CITY, Panama - Web.com -- When he putted out on No. 18 Sunday at the Panama Claro Championship, his chance at victory long since gone following a three-bogey front nine, China’s Hao Tong Li signed his scorecard and then conducted an interview in Chinese that would go back to media in his homeland.
Yes, even with the disappointment that came with Sunday’s 6-over 76, there is still a lot of interest in the 2014 PGA TOUR China Series’ Player of the Year.
While he didn’t win the Web.com Tour’s season-opening event, a tournament he led after 54 holes, there was a silver lining to his week at the Panama Golf Club. With his 11th-place finish, Li earned enough Official World Golf Ranking points to become the No. 1-ranked golfer in China. He’s No. 185 in the world—and climbing—while Wen Chong Liang, the player Li supplanted, is 192nd. Just three years ago, Li was ranked 1,390th.
Although he didn’t win in his Web.com Tour debut, Li did leave quite an impression on his fellow competitors who, admittedly, not only hadn’t seen him play before last week, they hadn’t even heard of Li. They have now.
For the week, Li shot rounds of 67-69-65-76, and he made 16 birdies against 11 bogeys. But six of those bogeys came in his fateful final round when nothing seemed to go right. “I didn’t play very well, and I was not able to control my distance very well today,” he explained. Stumbling to an 11th-place finish after being on the cusp of winning a title for the fifth time in the last six months was a learning experience for Li as he thought about his final 18 holes.
“I wasn’t nervous. I just hit some bad tee shots -- drivers and 3-woods. It wasn’t very good today,” Li said. “Still, it was a good week, and I feel very comfortable on this Tour.”
And Li continues his meteoric climb in the OWGR. In March 2013, he moved inside the top 1,000 for the first time, at No. 871. Sixteen months later he had broken the top-500 barrier after winning PGA TOUR China Series’ Jianye Tianzhu Henan Open, his first professional title. In his next start, on the OneAsia Tour -- at the Nanshan China Masters -- Li won again, moving to No. 339. By the time 2014 came to a close, Li had won two more PGA TOUR China Series’ events and had jumped to 190th in the world. Prior to the start of the Panama Claro Championship, when assessing his 2014 season, the 19-year-old, who doesn’t leave his teens behind until August, said, “Maybe I’m just lucky.” With his trademark humility showing, even Li knows what he’s done during these last two years is beyond luck. Golf fans in China figured that out last year. Now the rest of the world is clueing in, as well.
Stéphane Barras assisting Li Hao Tong during the 2013 Omega European Masters Crans-Montana, Switzerland
