Masters-stroke for Li at Open

China's Li Haotong proved he truly belongs to be alongside the world's best golfers following a standout tied-fourth finish at The Open Championship on Sunday. In doing so, he secured a timely return to the Masters at Augusta National next April and took another giant step towards his dream of earning a PGA Tour card.

The mercurial Li produced two clutch birdies in his closing four holes at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, signing off with a closing 1-under 70 to finish six shots back of playing partner and champion, Scottie Scheffler. The American world No 1 captured his first Claret Jug by four strokes on 17-under, extending a run of dominance reminiscent of Tiger Woods at his peak.

"It's pretty good. Like I said, I didn't expect anything like this, but I'm super happy to finish top four and get in the Masters again," said the 29-year-old Li, whose last appearance at Augusta was in 2019.Li became the first player from the Chinese mainland to lead or co-lead after the opening round of The Open and the first to feature in the final pairing on Sunday. He remained in contention throughout the week by delivering some of his best golf — a continuation of the form that earned him a fourth DP World Tour title earlier this year in Qatar.

His glorious run marked his second top-five finish at The Open — Li came in solo third in his debut at Royal Birkdale in 2017 — and pushed him to third place in the Race to Dubai rankings, through which the top-10, not otherwise exempt, will earn PGA Tour cards for 2026.

A wayward driver, which saw him miss over half the fairways at Royal Portrush, left him with an uphill battle on Sunday. Following a double bogey on 14, Li responded with a 16-foot birdie on the next hole, before blasting a sublime bunker shot to within two feet for his sixth and final birdie of the day to finish the week on 11-under alongside former US Open champions Wyndham Clark and Matt Fitzpatrick.

"I saw the leaderboard on the last three holes, and I knew I needed a couple more birdies to kind of jump up and to secure my PGA Tour card. I'm sure I'm really close there as well," he said.

"Off the tee, it's just been quite off, and I kind of lost five shots straight away because of the driver, and I think I need to figure that out. Iron play was quite nice; it was actually super calm and he's (Scheffler) such a lovely guy to play with."

Li burst onto the global scene more than a decade ago with multiple wins on the DP World Tour, including a memorable head-to-head triumph over Rory McIlroy in Dubai. However, his journey has been punctuated by dips in form that left him, at one point, contemplating walking away from the sport.

He arrived at Royal Portrush following a missed cut at the Genesis Scottish Open, and admitted his game was far from ideal. "The last couple of weeks, I felt really, really bad, honestly. I came in this week, I hardly got onto the course to play, because I felt like there were so many people, the course being so packed, so I just hit kind of a few balls on the range. It wasn't comfortable. Even our Thursday and Friday morning sessions weren't," he said.

Overcoming the "swing yips" that plagued him just two years ago, Li now feels rejuvenated. "Especially from two years ago, I couldn't even pull the trigger until now. It's a massive step for me. I've been playing on the DP World Tour, and being able to experience different kinds of courses has helped my game a lot."

A return to the Masters next year has Li buzzing with anticipation. He fondly remembers his last outing six years ago, when he played alongside Tiger Woods and Jon Rahm in the opening two rounds at Augusta. Woods triumphed that week for his 15th major victory.

"It was like a dream come true to play with Tiger, especially during the Masters," said Li, who finished T32 in 2018 and T43 in 2019, his two appearances at the Masters.

Now ranked 77th in the official World Golf Ranking, the Chinese star's lifelong goal is to compete full time on the PGA Tour, which now seems firmly within reach. He relished his final day pairing with Scheffler and enjoyed light-hearted moments with the likeable American superstar, who is now a four-time major champion.

"We did joke about with each other a little bit. I just asked: 'Is there any time I can practice with you when I go to the PGA Tour?' And he said yes. 'But,' I said, 'when I text you, you had better reply to me'. And he goes: 'Haotong Who?' That was actually funny. He's just a lovely guy to play with, and I enjoyed it," said Li.