China’s Li has big guns in sights on home soil

SHANGHAI: Chinese golf sensation Li Haotong flirted with a seismic shock here a year ago, after going into the final round of “Asia’s Major” just two shots off the lead.

A year on, the 21-year-old is back at the WGC-HSBC Champions on familiar turf at Sheshan International Golf Club — but this time as a winner, with a stunning maiden European Tour victory under his belt.

Li comes into the $9.5 million World Golf Championships event beginning on Thursday (today) with a realistic aim to do something that would have been unthinkable a few years ago — win one of golf’s biggest events for China.

“I feel that if I can play in my own style, I will be able to win,” Li told reporters on Wednesday.

Li kept that winning feeling with the $250,000 first prize at the “World Celebrity Pro-Am” at Mission Hills on China’s Hainan Island on Sunday.

“All that counts is the momentum and the performance that I put in on the weekend,” Li added. “It’s going to be challenging, but I’m looking forward to it.”