Haotong Li What's In The Bag And Player Profile
By: Derek Clements | Mon 10 Feb 2025
Share this article:
Haotong Li secured his fourth DP World Tour title in dramatic fashion, holing a 15-foot birdie putt on the final green to claim the Qatar Masters.
The Chinese golfer, who started the week ranked 300 in the world, let out a loud roar, pumped both fists and wept in the arms of his caddie after his winning putt at Doha Golf Club. It denied Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen of Denmark a playoff.
"I never thought I could come back in this position," said Li, whose last win was in June 2022 at the BMW International Open. "This morning, I was really stressed."
Li, the overnight leader, shot a three-under 69 in the final round to finish on 16-under par for the week, while Neergaard-Petersen posted 65. The Dane was alone in second place, two shots clear of Brandon Robinson Thompson (70).
Li began the day with a two-shot lead and doubled his advantage early on after starting his final round with back-to-back birdies to move four clear at the top of the leaderboard.
But despite successfully bouncing back from dropped shots at the eighth and 11th with birdies on the next hole to remain at 15 under, Li was overtaken in the closing stages.
With nothing to separate the pair at the top as Li made his way down the last, he got up and down from a bunker, rounding off a memorable victory by pouring in his tricky birdie putt to enter the winner's circle for the first time since June 2022.
Li got off to a dream start, tapping in for a birdie at the first after just missing his long eagle try. He followed that up with a second successive birdie, holing from seven feet to reach 15 under. A series of confident par saves followed before Li made his first bogey of the day on the par-three eighth.
But he responded with a birdie on the ninth to head into the turn with a two-shot lead. Li then rode his luck in the early stages of the back nine as he got a fortunate bounce off the rocks at the tenth on his way to making a par there.
A bogey followed on the 11th after Li cleared the green but he enjoyed another slice of luck on the 12th as he got a good lie in the wood chippings before his approach shot clung onto the putting surface and he made a bonus birdie to move two clear once more.
Having just been joined at the summit by a charging Neergaard-Petersen, Li surrendered the lead altogether with a bogey on the 15th but once again managed to recover with a bounce-back birdie at the next.
He went close to picking up another shot on the 17th but his lengthy birdie try just missed, while Neergaard-Petersen had to settle for a birdie at the last after his long eagle try evaded the hole.
Li headed to the 18th tee knowing a birdie was required to put his name on the trophy and despite missing the green in two, he managed to get up and down from the sand for a closing birdie.
The Qatar Masters completes a run of four events in the Middle East. The tour next heads to Kenya on February 20-23.
(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)
Player Profile
Li was born in Miluo City in China in August 1995. He first played in the Volvo China Open as an amateur in 2011. Won four times in the space of eight professional starts in 2014, with three of those victories coming on PGA TOUR China, earning status on the then-Web.com Tour the following year, the first Chinese player to do so.
He was denied a maiden DP World Tour title at the 2015 Shenzhen International as he lost to Kiradech Aphibarnrat in a play-off.
He won the Volvo China Open in 2016 and the Dubai Desert Classic two years later, setting a new tournament record of 23 under par as he won by one stroke from Rory McIlroy. That win in Dubai earned him a place in the history books, becoming the first male Chinese golfer to break into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking.
He finished in a tie for third place at The Open at Royal Birkdale in 2017 thanks to a final round of 63.
He represented the International Team at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.
Held the 36-hole lead at the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park, eventually finishing T17. He then endured a slump in form but had a good year in 2022, finishing tied sixth at the ISPS Handa Championship in Spain and tied 18th at the Porsche European Open before winning the BMW International Open.
This was his 198th start and he has made 121 cuts, winning four times, finishing second four times, third three times and in the top 10 on 14 further occasions. The victory in Qatar sees him climb 66 places to seventh in the Race to Dubai.
Last 10 Events
Qatar Masters - 1st
Bahrain Championship - T24th
Ras Al Khaimah Championship - T22nd
Hero Dubai Desert Classic - T52nd
Genesis Championship - T40th
FedEx Open de France - T49th
Alfred Dunhill Links Championship - T7th
Open de Espana - CUT
BMW PGA Championship - CUT
Amgen Irish Open - WD
Key Stats
Driving Distance - 312.29 Yards
Driving Accuracy - 48.81%
Greens in Regulation - 70.83%
Sand Saves - 41.18%
Putts Per Round - 29.17
Scoring Average - 70.67
End of Year World Ranking Position
2020: 167
2021: 460
2022: 146
2023: 498
2024: 308
Current Ranking: 154th
What's In Haotong Li's Golf Bag
Driver: Titleist GT2
Woods: Callaway Elyte
Hybrids: Callaway Apex UW
Irons: Srixon ZX7 Mk II
Wedges: Cleveland RTX-6 Tour Rack Zipcore
Putter: Odyssey Jailbird Versa 380
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Be part of the action with a selection of unique golf tournament experiences, from playing in a pro-am with the stars to watching the action at golf’s most illustrious events. Whether it’s the Masters or The Open, The Ryder Cup or WM Phoenix Open, build your own bespoke package with the experts at Golfbreaks.com.
Tags: WITB Tour Pro player profile in the bag
