Who is Li Haotong? Here’s what to know about the Chinese golfer contending at the British Open

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) – Li Haotong is in contention to become the first man from China, a country of 1.4 billion people, to win a major golf championship.

The No. 111-ranked Li will play in the final pairing at the British Open on Sunday with Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1.

Scheffler leads by four strokes from Li, who is alone in second place at Royal Portrush.

Here are some things to know about the Chinese golfer. In short, he’s quite a character.

He is a 29-year-old from Hunan, China. He started out caddying for his father, who played golf while also owning a car dealership in their home city.

Li’s parents now travel the world with him as he splits his time between playing on the PGA Tour and European tour.

He turned pro in 2011 and first got on the European tour in 2016.

This is Li’s 15th appearance in a major and his best finish was a tie for third at the British Open at Royal Birkdale in 2017, when he shot a final-round 63. He was six strokes behind the winner, Jordan Spieth.

In 2020, Li was the first Chinese player to hold the lead after any round in a major championship thanks to a bogey-free 65 in the second round of the PGA Championship. That left him two shots clear. He wound up finishing 17th.

Li’s last major appearance came in 2022 when he missed the cut at the British Open at St. Andrews.

Li is a four-time winner on the European tour, most recently at the Qatar Masters in February when he holed a birdie putt from 15 feet at the last hole to secure a one-shot victory and wept in the arms of his caddie.

His first was nearly a decade earlier at the China Open in 2016, the year he joined the tour.

Li was involved in one of the most bizarre incidents in the history of the European tour.

While playing the French Open in 2017, Li threw his club into the water out of frustration after bogeying the par-3 11th hole at Le Golf National. Moments later, his mother rolled up her shorts and waded through the muddy pond to recover it. After she grabbed it, she returned to dry land, realized it was broken – her son had snapped it – and threw it back in the water.

After the incident, Li played the final seven holes in level par using a sand wedge as a putter.

Li once had the following in red capital letters on the back of his 60-degree wedge: “HAOTONG IS THE MOST HANDSOME MAN IN CHINA.”

Oh, and Li also follows an English soccer team – Sunderland. Well, kind of. He was guided down that road by an ex-caddie, who was a fan of the team from northeast England.

While no man from China has captured a major title, two women have.

The first was Shanshan Feng, who won the LPGA Championship in 2012. Ruoning Yin won the Women’s PGA Championship in 2021.