Ahead of the year's third Rolex Series event, Haotong Li sat down to write this week's Player Blog. The 22 year old writes about his route to the Tour, the up-and-downs of his early career, his battle with Rory McIlroy in Dubai and why he struggled with the food on the road.
Ever since I was young, I’ve loved winning. I started playing golf when I was ten and grew up playing tournaments in and around Beijing. Once I won one or two tournaments as a junior, I was hooked. Now I’m on Tour, I still enjoy the game immensely and that love of winning is stronger than ever.
I still remember when I was 14 years oldand I got into a play-off at the Volvo China Junior Match Play Championship. I had no idea at the time how you even managed to get in a play-off, but it ended up that the other player missed a putt from three feet and that gave me the chance to win. I birdied the second hole and that is when I realised I was going to play in the Volvo China Open. To play on the European Tour for me was huge, I had never played a professional event before and it is a moment I won’t ever forget when I was standing on the first tee, I think my heart was almost going to explode from the excitement.
My dad was the first person that introduced me to golf. His best friend needed someone to practice with his son, so he took me along one day to see if I liked it. The first time I went to the course I was 10 years old and I told him he should have taken me here a long time ago because it was so nice. Golf made me feel like a boss because you can do anything you want on the course, you are the one in control and making all the shots.
My route to Tour was differentfrom a lot of guys out here. While they maybe play in a lot of amateur events or play golf at college, I knew early on I wanted to play professionally and I turned pro at 16 years old. By that time I was breaking par regularly and winning lots of the amateur events in my area and across China. There was a Tour named the OneAsia Tour and that was going to be my introduction to professional golf.
At first, it wasn’t easy. Everyone on Tour was a good junior, everyone had won big events and it felt like the best of the best were playing in each event. I was young and whilst I was a good player, I was still learning the game and learning what I could and couldn’t do.
Those first two years on Tour were really important for me. There was so much more to think about than just making birdies. Traveling to and from events, finding time to rest, working on my swing, trying to build up my body, it was a big adjustment for me. It wasn’t until 2014 when I began playing in bigger events in China on the OneAsia Tour and PGA Tour China, that things started to come together.
It was in that year, I finally won. I was 19 and playing in a PGA Tour China event in Zhengzhou. The weather was terrible. I played the last three rounds in 13 under par and won by eight. It was a big moment. I wasn’t even 20 but I already felt it had been a long road to get a victory so doing it like that felt amazing and it changed everything moving forward. I was confident and knew I could win.
Two weeks later I won again, becoming the youngest ever winner on the OneAsia Tour. Two months after my first win, I had won four professional tournaments and began getting a lot of attention. I kept being asked “what’s next?”, “what are your goals?”. To be honest, my goal was to play well and try and win every tournament I played. I thought it was a simple idea. The good thing for me was that I had my parents and a good team around me to keep me level and organise where I was headed.
In 2015 I began playing events on the European Tour. I had watched it for years on TV and seen all the amazing places the Tour went and the players it produced and I was excited to give it a try. The biggest adjustment early on was the food. It sounds strange but I had grown up on a traditional Chinese diet of rice and noodles and suddenly I was in airports and hotels around the world having to get used to all different types of diets and food. It made me quite sick early on and homesick. It took a while to get used to, both physically and mentally. Luckily now, they look after players really well and we have so many options to choose from in Players’ Lounges. Even rice and noodles!
That first season on Tour was a huge eye-openerfor me, both on and off the course. I was seeing players I had grown up idolising like Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose. They would be on the range next to me and as much as I tried to work on my game, I wanted to just sit and watch them hit balls. I was getting asked to do interviews and sign autographs and it was big for my confidence. I tried my best to soak it up and enjoy it. I think that’s why I’m laughing so much. It’s pretty amazing to think I get to travel and play golf around the world.
In April, I flew back to China for the Volvo China Open, my national Open on the European Tour. I had been playing pretty well, finishing in the top ten at the WGC-HSBC Champions a few months earlier and I felt good. I played well Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I was two shots back heading into the final day and the forecast was for rain. It made me think of Zhengzhou again and how I won my first event and when I spoke with my caddy and manager the night before, we agreed to just go out, have fun and play aggressive. It’s not everyday you get a chance to win your home Open!
On Sunday, everything went right.
I played with Alex Noren and Tyrrell Hatton on the final dayand we were all playing well. After a couple of early birdies, I birdied four of five holes around the turn and took the lead. By the end of the round I had made eight birdies and ten pars and had to wait in the scoring hut to see if I was going to win. A few minutes later it was confirmed. I had won my home Open. I can’t describe the feeling. The best way to describe it is to show the photos of me after winning. I don’t think I stopped smiling and laughing for a week.
That was my big break-through. It meant I had a European Tour card for two years and my World Ranking improved to get me into a lot of new events. It was a really exciting time. It was three years ago but it feels like six months ago, it’s all gone so fast.
That win, along with some good finishes in 2015 and 2016, meant I got to play in the Olympics in Rio. In China, the Olympics is a big deal. There’s a great history of Chinese success at the Games and to be a part of it, represent my country and be there when golf returned to the Olympics was just awesome. I have so many pictures and stories from the week I had there, from staying in the village to go to other events and meeting some famous athletes, it was a very, very cool experience.
After the Olympics, I set some goalsfor myself. I wanted to make an impact in the Majors and win again. I didn’t want to be the Chinese golfer who won in China but didn’t contend elsewhere, I wanted to keep winning and winning big events.
I played at the US Open at Erin Hillsand I was just blown away by the scale of the course, the event and the attention. I played well on Thursday and Friday and made the cut but the weekend went horribly. I think part of me felt like making the cut was an achievement. I was wrong. I should have pushed myself to get into contention, but instead I played poorly and shot 82 then 84 on the weekend. It was a big wake-up call. I learned a lot from the weekend and it gave me the motivation I needed to push on and not be content with where my game was.
A month later at The Open Championship, I shot a final round 63.
Everything I’d learnt at Erin Hills paid off. I was paired with Ernie Els on Sunday and I was so excited to walk the fairways at an Open Championship with a legend of the game. It would have been easy to just smile and enjoy the day but deep down, I was ready to do something special. I had played solid over the first three days but just missed a few putts as I got used to the links style greens. On Sunday, the hole looked twice the size. I made a couple of putts over the first few holes and my caddy kept telling me to keep pushing, keep playing aggressive, that there was a number to be shot. Branden Grace had shot 62 the day before, so it was possible, I just had to really concentrate and not take my foot off the pedal. By the end of the round, I had birdied eight of my last 11 holes, jumped into the clubhouse lead and shot 63. It was one of the proudest days of my life. Ernie was so nice afterwards telling me it was one of the best rounds he’d ever seen and that it was every bit as good as Grace’s 62. Hearing that from Ernie meant a lot.
Going into 2018, I was ranked in the top 60in the world and getting a lot of positive feedback from everyone but I really wanted a win. I had put together a lot of good finishes but that feeling of winning was eating away at me. People see me smiling and joking at events, and that is who I am but inside I have a huge ambition and I always want to win.
In January, I was paired with Rory in the final group in Dubai.I was two back to start the day and I had nothing to lose. I had a really good range session before teeing off. I mean really good! I was hitting everything perfect and I told myself to just concentrate on my game and try and birdie every hole. It’s easy playing with someone like Rory to watch what they do, or how far they hit it and let it impact your game. I was determined to make those fans cheer for me that day.
All day we had a good battle, going back and forth with birdies. I had so much adrenaline on the back nine and had to try and calm down a little to concentrate on each shot. I hit an eight iron on the 15th hole and it went just over the green. When I hit it I thought I was it going close but I got to the green and realised I had a quick 20-foot putt from the back fringe. Two minutes later I was going crazy. I holed the putt and had taken the lead. I couldn’t hold in the excitement. Suddenly I got that sense of winning, I was close. I don’t think I’ve ever been so animated on the course. I birdied four of the last six holes, including the last, and won by two. It was the best feeling in the world. I had gone up against the best in the world and won.
In the press conference afterwards, a journalist told me that I was now in the top 50 in the world and would be going to the Masters. I think I just laughed. I hadn’t even thought about that. As if I needed more to smile about, I was headed to Augusta!
I don’t think I was nervous heading to The Masters, I was just really excited. I was excited to see the place and of course to play. I remember watching it on TV and seeing Bubba hit that crazy shot from the trees to win and it was a huge milestone to know I would be playing.
The opening round tee times came out and I was paired with Fred Coupleson Thursday and Friday. He is so loved there and the fans were three or four deep the whole way round. In the first round, I went on a charge. I birdied five of six holes from the 11th and was leading. We saw my name on the leaderboard and it was surreal. I had to pinch myself a little but also try and concentrate on what I was doing. The course is so challenging but rewarding if you pull off the shots, and I really like that kind of pressure. Sadly, I didn’t keep that form up for four days but I did make the cut and also bought everything I could in shop. I am Chinese after all and we love memorabilia and souvenirs, I think I needed an extra suitcase to get everything back home. It was a really fun week.
Now, in 2018, I’m China’s best-ever ranked male golferand I’ve played in Majors, WGC events and the Olympics. It’s been a crazy ride. As I mentioned before, I’m lucky to have a really good team with me each week. My parents and manager are at every event I play and give me so much support and encouragement. Without them, I can’t imagine what life on Tour would be like.
As for the future, I want to keep winning. That’s what makes me get up in the morning and hit hundreds of balls on the range, the feeling of winning. I’m proud to be the best Chinese male golfer but I want to keep playing well and be thought of as one of the players in the world, not just China.
