Li becomes first Chinese to hold opening round lead

Credit: Asian Tour

Li becomes first Chinese to hold opening round lead

China’s Li Haotong fired a spectacular eight-under-par 64 to become the first ever Chinese to hold the opening round lead at a World Golf Champions event when the WGC HSBC Champions got underway on Thursday.

With a passionate home crowd backing him at the Sheshan International Golf Club, Li did not disappoint them as he mixed his card with seven birdies, one eagle and a bogey to take a one-shot advantage over France’s Victor Perez.

Li gave his fans a lot to cheer about when he opened with two birdies on 10 and 11 in his back-nine 10.

After making three more birdies on holes 14, 17 and 18, he dropped his only shot of the day on the par-four first before providing one of the loudest cheers of the day with his eagle on the second hole.

The Chinese then added two more birdies on the third and eighth hole to stake his place atop the leaderboard after the first round.

Perez, who is making his WGC debut after claiming his maiden European Tour victory in Scotland last month, carded two eagles en route to a 65 while defending champion Xander Schauffele of the United States was tied for fourth with Korea’s Sungjae Im, Australia’s Adam Scott and England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick.

Asian Tour Order of Merit leader, Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand signed for a 70 to start his maiden WGC appearance in tied-26th place, six shots back of Li.

Players’ Quotes:

Li Haotong (Chn) First round 64 (-8): It was pretty good start today and it will be absolutely great for Chinese golfers and Chinese golf fans to have a Chinese player winning the WGC HSBC Champions here in China. But for the next three days, anything can happen. I don't want to think too much about it. I just want to focus and concentrate on the upcoming three days because anything can happen. I just want to do a good job to keep this momentum going for the next three days. It's always good feeling to know that you are leading a tournament. I wasn't really playing that well before the start of this tournament. And so, it was a nice surprise to have such a great round. Actually, in the first few holes, I already made some good putts which made me feel more confident. Then when I birdied 17 and 18, two in a row, I knew I had gained that momentum and would end up with a a good finish.

Victor Perez (Fra) First round 65 (-7): This is my first WGC event and I’m just very excited with this start. I think being around here and going down the fairway with some of the best players in the world is quite amazing. It's really enjoyable. Obviously you just try to make the most out of it and it worked out to be a great day for me. I’m very pleased with how I played. I think I did a lot of things well today and I'm obviously in a great position after day one.

Xander Schauffele (USA) First round 66 (-6): It was nice especially when I made a few 35 and 40-footers today. I felt like I was going to make anything. The greens are perfect. My whole goal was to keep it out of the rough and hit it anywhere on the green and kind of get into my round. I didn't have any practice. I didn't play the Pro-Am. I didn't play any practice round. I was just trying to ease my way into the round and luckily I did. Maybe I should just keep my flu going and if I can rattle off a 66 every day, I think that would be enough. I think with a couple more nights of sleep, I'll be in better shape. But it was a dream start with what things are looking like.

Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) First round 70 (-2): Yeah, it's a better start than the last two events I had. I'm pretty happy with my round. Just a couple mistake, but it's the first time playing this golf course. So we'll learn and we'll adapt. Now that I’ve played this course, I’ve an idea of how to play it better tomorrow and for the rest of the week. It's a tough course and it's demanding, so it's going to be fun. My A game’s not yet here but I feel it's coming. I hope it comes this week but I’m on the right track in getting there. I just need to hit a lot of greens. The rough’s pretty high here, so I just need to hit a lot of fairways. I managed to get a good couple up-and-down and made some good birdies. I'll take that as a positive and use it for the next three rounds.