On June 26th, 2022, Li Haotong, someone who missed the cut 14 times, holed a 50 feet putt, and dramatically won the BMW International Open in Munich.
The 26-year-old was leading the previous three rounds. He avoided the water twice on the first play-off hole, and thinned a chip past the flag, before hitting a birdie putt. This brought him to where he beat Belgium’s Thomas Pieters, and gave him his first win in four years.
The final day marked history for Li, as there were many suspenseful moments. It wasn’t looking good for Li after Pieters had successfully come out of the bunker. Then, Pieters was unable to extend the play-off, which made Li roar in delight.
Before this, Li was dropped to 467th in the world, and he almost quit golf. “Ten months ago I just literally decided to quit golf, and somehow where I am now, it’s just hard to describe,” Li stated.
Two eagles and six birdies was enough to stabilize the position of Li being in the lead. Back-to-back 67’s left Li leading by three strokes.
His start on Sunday was already looking really good. Li made three birdies across the first five holes, but he had four bogeys at the 16th hole. His biggest competition, Thomas Pieters, finished strongly with two birdies across the final three holes.
After Li won the game, it gave the world number 281, and he was also really emotional. “I didn’t realize I could be that emotional, maybe just because I never thought golf could be that tough. Through a lot of tough times, I realized how good that feeling is to play good again,” he said.
Throughout the whole competition, Li stayed strong and kept encouraging himself to never give up. “I already knew it was going to be super tough and I just kept telling myself ‘hang on in there’. Maybe it was his passion that pulled him through the competition and made him win his first game in four years.
The 26-year-old was leading the previous three rounds. He avoided the water twice on the first play-off hole, and thinned a chip past the flag, before hitting a birdie putt. This brought him to where he beat Belgium’s Thomas Pieters, and gave him his first win in four years.
The final day marked history for Li, as there were many suspenseful moments. It wasn’t looking good for Li after Pieters had successfully come out of the bunker. Then, Pieters was unable to extend the play-off, which made Li roar in delight.
Before this, Li was dropped to 467th in the world, and he almost quit golf. “Ten months ago I just literally decided to quit golf, and somehow where I am now, it’s just hard to describe,” Li stated.
Two eagles and six birdies was enough to stabilize the position of Li being in the lead. Back-to-back 67’s left Li leading by three strokes.
His start on Sunday was already looking really good. Li made three birdies across the first five holes, but he had four bogeys at the 16th hole. His biggest competition, Thomas Pieters, finished strongly with two birdies across the final three holes.
After Li won the game, it gave the world number 281, and he was also really emotional. “I didn’t realize I could be that emotional, maybe just because I never thought golf could be that tough. Through a lot of tough times, I realized how good that feeling is to play good again,” he said.
Throughout the whole competition, Li stayed strong and kept encouraging himself to never give up. “I already knew it was going to be super tough and I just kept telling myself ‘hang on in there’. Maybe it was his passion that pulled him through the competition and made him win his first game in four years.