Haotong Li’s ball disappears – and with it, probable Li’s PGA hopes

Haotong Li’s extended observe session did not direct to superior effects Saturday at the PGA Championship.

Li was the resource of a great deal fascination Friday just after he was noticed functioning on the range a lot more than 5 hours after posting a second-round 65 and vaulting into the lead at TPC Harding Park. The transfer suggested he both experienced 24 hrs of nervous power he was identified to defuse, or possibly he wasn’t entirely relaxed with his ball-placing. It seemed like the latter – on Saturday he shot a 3-in excess of 73 to fall into a share of 13^th area.

Despite an uneven start off to his spherical, Li took the outright lead the moment once more just after a miraculous birdie on the 12^th gap, throughout which he received a favorable carom off a tree again into the to start with cut of rough, then obtained a different fortuitous kick around the greenside bunker from 242 yards absent. Just off the environmentally friendly, he brushed in a 22-footer for birdie on the most tricky gap on the class.

Li’s luck appeared to operate out on the subsequent hole, even so, following a further errant tee shot. This time, his ball sailed way suitable and likely hung up in a cypress tree just before staying declared dropped. Forced to return to the tee, Li created double bogey, then dropped two far more photographs on Nos. 14 and 16. He’s still only 4 back of Dustin Johnson, a 7 days soon after beating only two gamers at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.