Haotong Li’s ball disappears – and with it, likely Li’s PGA hopes
Haotong Li’s extended practice session didn’t lead to better results Saturday at the PGA Championship.
Li was the source of much fascination Friday after he was spotted working on the range more than five hours after posting a second-round 65 and vaulting into the lead at TPC Harding Park. The move suggested he either had 24 hours of nervous energy he was determined to defuse, or perhaps he wasn’t totally comfortable with his ball-striking. It seemed like the latter – on Saturday he shot a 3-over 73 to drop into a share of 13th place.
Despite an uneven start to his round, Li took the outright lead once again after a miraculous birdie on the 12th hole, during which he got a favorable carom off a tree back into the first cut of rough, then received another fortuitous kick over the greenside bunker from 242 yards away. Just off the green, he brushed in a 22-footer for birdie on the most difficult hole on the course.
Li’s luck appeared to run out on the next hole, however, after another errant tee shot. This time, his ball sailed way right and likely hung up in a cypress tree before being declared lost. Forced to return to the tee, Li made double bogey, then dropped two more shots on Nos. 14 and 16. He’s still only four back of Dustin Johnson, a week after beating only two players at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.