An ‘unbelievable’ round for Li
Chinese player just fourth to shoot a 63 on last day of major.
Dustin Johnson thought he might have an outside chance to make a move. That notion ended quickly.
Johnson hit into a bunker on the first hole and had to blast out sideways because of the lie. He rolled a putt from short of the green to about 5 feet, and then missed that to make double bogey. Johnson bogeyed the next hole, made only one birdie and shot a 77.
Right behind him was Hideki Matsuyama, who started even worse. His open- ing tee shot sailed into a gorse bush, and he had to hit two from the first tee. The Japanese star opened with a tri- ple bogey. He at least managed to salvage a 72.
Li Haotong crept into unexpected contention at the British Open with the round of his life Sunday.
It didn’t win him the claret jug, but it earned him a place at the Masters.
The 21-year-old Chinese golfer became the fourth player to shoot 63 in the final round of a major, after Jodie Mudd (Birkdale, 1991), Payne Stewart (Royal St. George’s, 1993) and Henrik Stenson (Royal Troon, 2016). The 7-under round moved him to 6 under overall. After being just two shots off the lead at one stage, he finished third and six shots behind champion Jordan Spieth.
Ernie Els, Li’s playing partner, had a front-row seat of a bogey-free round containing seven birdies — four coming in the final four holes — and just 25 putts.
“I could see he wasn’t backing off,” Els said. “You see some guys get a little bit scared, but he kept going. So it was really special to see.”
Li said he felt at home at Royal Birkdale because it was similar to the course he plays in Shanghai, Lake Malaren.
“Unbelievable, actually,” he said. “I can’t explain.
“Glad to see I holed every- thing. So quite happy out there.”
Li won the Volvo China Open last year and maybe gained more notoriety last month at the French Open, when he threw his putter into a lake in frustration after a bogey. Minutes later, his mother waded into the muddy water to retrieve the club, slowly returned with it to dry land, only to throw it back into the water because it had been snapped in half by Li.
“Don’t remind me, please,” he said, laughing.
The 63 would have tied a record for major champion- ship scoring if Branden Grace had not shot 62 Saturday.
“Obviously Branden has the record. It’s absolutely done and dusted. So what he did yesterday broke every record in the book,” Els said. “But today’s round, for what it is, is as good a round. It’s not the same number, but it’s the same quality golf.”
Li shot 82-84 in final two rounds of U.S. Open last month. He earned a place at Augusta National next year for finishing in the top four at Royal Birkdale.