‘Never seen that:’ Bizarre bounce costs pro hole-out eagle at China Open
Haotong Li
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Golf is often a game of breaks, and Haotong Li was on the end of the rarest of unlucky ones during Sunday’s final round at the DP World Tour’s Volvo China Open.
Li, who won the Qatar Masters in February, started Sunday’s final round tied with Eugenio Chacarra atop the leaderboard. The 29-year-old’s final round at Enhance Anting GC almost got off to a perfect start, but a rarely seen bounce sent it in a different direction.
After pummeling his drive down the center of the fairway at No. 1, Li took dead aim at the flagstick. Li’s shot was all over the stick, but it was too good to be true. The ball landed inside the cup and ricocheted back out and over the green, leaving both Li and the announcers stunned.
Li went on to bogey and shot one over in the final round to finish in a tie for fourth place while Ashun Wu fired a six-under 65 to claim his second China Open title and fifth career DP World Tour win.
Chacarra, who won the Hero Indian Open three weeks ago, also shot one over in the final round to finish in a tie for fourth place. With their T4 finishes, both Li and Chacarra moved inside the top 15 in the Race to Dubai standings.
The top 10 players in the Race to Dubai standings at season’s end who are not already exempt will earn PGA Tour cards for the 2025-26 season.
Li currently sits seventh out of 10 while Chacarra is in 14th.
Li’s win in Qatar was his first in nearly three years. After he finished off the victory, Li gave an emotional interview that pulled the curtain back on the rollercoaster journey he had been on during that drought.
“It means a lot,” Li told the broadcast after the win. “It’s like, I never thought I could come back in this position. Even after yesterday, I felt like this morning was really stress. I’m just so pleased I made that putt on the last. The whole day I was grinding, staying patient. Some wrong. Some good. I am just very glad I closed it out nicely.
“I finally improved myself.”
The DP World Tour will stay in China for the Hainan Classic next week. Li will tee it up at Mission Hills Resort Haikou, hoping that the next time he hoops one from the fairway, it stays in the cup.
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