China’s Haotong joins CIMB fray
CHINA’S rising star Li Haotong, who came into the limelight after finishing third at the Open Championship in July, will aim for a memorable debut at next week’s CIMB Classic as Asia attempts to deliver its first winner in the PGA TOUR’s lone tournament in Southeast Asia.
The 22-year-old Haotong will be among a strong line-up of leading golfers from the region who include South Korea’s Si Woo Kim, who won The Players Championship in May, compatriot Whee Kim, Taiwan’s C.T. Pan, India’s Anirban Lahiri and World No 3 Hideki Matsuyama of Japan.
Along with the top-10 players from the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit who will be finalised tomorrow, all eyes will be on Asia’s top golfers to see if they can end the domination by PGA Tour stars since the CIMB Classic was inaugurated in 2010.
The slender Haotong is expected to challenge two-time defending champion and world No 4 American Justin Thomas at TPC Kuala Lumpur from Oct 12-15.
Haotong made the golfing world sit up and take notice of his talent when he stormed through the field at the Open with a closing round of seven-under-par 63 at Royal Birkdale.
“I’m really excited to have the opportunity to compete in my first CIMB Classic on the PGA Tour, said Haotong.
As a 19-year-old, Li won three times on the PGA Tour China in 2014 to top the money list. His biggest win to date was achieved at his national Open last year before his Open Championship heroics, which is the best finish to date by a mainland Chinese golfer in major history.
Currently ranked 64th in the world, Haotong is now eyeing the opportunity to break into the top-50 and knows the CIMB Classic will offer plenty of points to the elite 78-man field in Malaysia.
“With plenty of FedExCup points and Official World Golf Ranking points at stake, it’ll be important for me to play well to improve my ranking as it is my goal to break into the world’s top50 by the end of the year.
“I’ve been quite happy with the way I’ve played all year, most notably with the third-place finish at the British Open which was quite memorable. I certainly hope to end the year strongly,” said Haotong.
Tickets for the CIMB Classic are now on sale on www.ticketpro.com.my, Ticket Pro sales channels and selected MST Golf Stores in the Klang Valley.
Fans who purchase tickets from now until Oct 8 will enjoy early bird pricing, with tickets costing RM62 each for the first round (Oct 12) and second round (Oct 13).
Prices for the third round (Oct 14) and final round (Oct 15 are RM99 per day. A season ticket for all four rounds are priced at RM199.