Li Haotong, who shot a 65 on Friday, is looking to become the first player from China to ever lead after any round of a major championship.
SAN FRANCISCO — Li Haotong doesn’t know what to make of President Donald Trump’s ban on WeChat, the Chinese social media application that is prominently displayed as one of the golfer’s endorsers on his cap. He also doesn’t know what to make of leading the PGA Championship. Li,25, whose third-place finish at the 2017 Open was the highest-ever finish by a Chinese golfer in a men’s major championship, shot 65 at TPC Harding Park on Friday to take the early second-round lead by two strokes over Tommy Fleetwood. A two-time winner on the European Tour, Li has not posted a top-10 finish in more than a year and has slipped to 114th in the world after becoming the first golfer from China to crack the top 50 when he beat Rory McIlroy at the 2018 Dubai Desert Classic. In two starts since golf’s restart following the coronarivus pandemic shutdown, Li missed the cut with rounds of 74-77 at Memorial and tied for 75th last week at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational with scores of 68-73 — 74-75. «I didn’t even think I could play (like) this week, especially… (I’ve) got no confidence,» Li said. «Probably it helped me clear my mind a little bit this week.
