CHINESE GRABBING GLOBAL SPOTLIGHT
Li’s success at British Open heralds dawn of new era
When Chinese golfer Li Haotong once dreamed about making headlines, he probably wasn’t envisaging the recent coverage of his mother wading into a water hazard to retrieve his club.
Li, 22, can laugh now because it’s his game that’s making the news, after a startling performance at the British Open.
Li’s success at Royal Birkdale preceded the historic achievement of his bespectacled countryman, Dou Zecheng, who won on the Web.com Tour on Sunday to become the first Chinese to earn a PGA Tour card.
China has long been viewed as the next great frontier for emerging golf talent, but that vision has been slow to materialize, at least in the men’s game.
But golfers such as Li and Dou, 20, are at the forefront of a new generation of talented young Chinese players waiting to break out.
On the one hand, Chinese authorities have shut dozens of golf courses — many of them illegal — and curbed new construction, while also warning Party members about playing the game.
But on the other, big tournaments such as the $9.75 million WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, one of the game’s richest events, are a regular fixture.
None of this concerns Hunan native Li, who had to contend with embarrassment in June after the video of his mom, knee-deep in water, swept the internet.
“Don’t remind me, please,” the personable Li said later.
Frustrated at a poor shot at the French Open, Li launched the club into a murky pond, only to see his mom roll up her trousers to go and retrieve it.
As fellow players watched on in hysterics — apparently unaware it was Li’s mother — she fished out the club, only to toss it back in the water after realizing it was broken.
‘Dream come true’
The incident did nothing to harm Li, who registered China’s best performance in a major after his final round of 63 at the British Open placed him third and earned him an invitation to the Masters.
“It’s kind of a dream come true,” said Li, who is 66th in the world rankings and has been quietly making a name for himself in recent years.
He turned professional in 2011 and two years later was signed by Nike, joining the likes of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods with the US brand.
Li captured his first European Tour victory at the Volvo China Open last year before finishing runner-up at the Turkish Airlines Open.
Tenniel Chu, vice-chairman of Mission Hills Group in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, saw Li’s commitment first-hand when he spent his preseason at the sprawling golf resort.
“The hard work he puts in and the way he dedicates himself to his game makes me believe he can win a major,” said Chu, also identifying Liu Yanwei, 20, and Zhang Huilin as possible world-beaters.
Slice of history
Dou, who spent part of his childhood in Vancouver, Canada, grabbed a slice of history last weekend by becoming the first Chinese to win on the Web.com Tour in the US, the PGA’s development tour, earning his tour card in the process.
Veteran sportswriter Spencer Robinson said that Li and Dou “have all the ingredients required to go to the very top, scaling golfing peaks that no Chinese mainland male golfers have previously come close to”.
Robinson, also chief communications officer at the Asian Golf Industry Federation, said the duo were distinct from “pioneers” Zhang Lianwei and Liang Wenchong, two Chinese veterans who enjoyed success without cracking the very top echelon.
“Li and Dou were exposed to the game at a young age and enjoyed toplevel coaching right from the beginning,” said Robinson.
“Another huge advantage they have over their predecessors is that they have spent a considerable amount of time in America and have learned English, enabling them to blend in and not feel so isolated.”
Robinson said Li and Dou are just the first wave, with 19-year-olds Jin Cheng and Andy Zhang and the even younger Ye Wocheng poised to step up as genuine talents.
And then there are the female golfers.
Feng Shanshan was the first Chinese to win a major, and the popular 2016 Olympic bronze medalist has a growing number of domestic rivals.
“Beyond that, it’s no exaggeration to say there are dozens of supremely gifted Chinese youngsters in their early teens, and even younger, who are being groomed for golfing greatness,” said Robinson.
Li and Dou were exposed to the game at a young age and enjoyed top-level coaching right from the beginning.” Spencer Robinson