China’s Li Hao-tong played the round of the week, a flawless seven under par 65, to put pressure on frontrunners Peter Uihlein and Kiradech Aphibarnrat on day three of the Shenzhen International.
Li, aged just 19, shot 39 places up the leaderboard thanks to seven brilliant birdies, including four in his first five holes, to sit seven under overall, two shots behind Uihlein and one behind Aphibarnrat just before they started their third rounds.
Li played alongside two-time Masters Champion Bubba Watson for the first time and said: “He's pretty nice guy, so I very much enjoyed playing with him.
“I hit a lot of greens and made a lot of birdies. I was pretty lucky also.”
Watson, who started the day on level par but went round in two over, praised Li, saying: “He's hitting the ball really well. He's making a lot of putts. The key around a golf course is a lot of putts and he made a lot of putts today.”
Richie Ramsay had looked like beating Li to a score of seven under but the Scot dropped his only shot of the day with a bogey at 18, a par four, for a 66 that left him five under overall.
Ramsay’s exceptional round matched the best of the week from Huang Wen-yi, whose equally impressive effort earned him the lead at the end of day one, but Li went one better than both.
Ramsay said: “I played lovely all day. I didn't really sort of hole that many putts. I just hit it close quite a few times. I’m a little disappointed to bogey the last but it's not an easy hole, and I just pushed my tee shot and I had to lay up. I hit a lovely putt that hit the edge.”
