China number one Li Haotong only has one thing on his mind at Hong Kong Open – victory

Dust barely settles on the Race To Dubai and new European Tour season opens at Hong Kong Golf Club this week

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China’s Li Haotong comes to Hong Kong without a win this year. Photo: Reuters

Published: 10:45am, 20 Nov 2017Updated: 9:11pm, 20 Nov 2017

China number one Li Haotong won €1.6 million (HK$14.6 million) on the European Tour this year but it was still tinged with disappointment after he failed to claim a title.

The 22-year-old from Hunan province hopes to put that right at this week’s UBS Hong Kong Open, which opens the new European Tour season.

“I’m a little disappointed I haven’t won this year, especially as I’ve had a couple of very good chances,” said Li. “It would have been good to have had just one victory.”

Those chances included a third place in the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in July, the highest finish in a major by any Chinese male player, and four other top-10 finishes.

Li Haotong at a launch event for the HSBC-World Golf Championships in Shanghai. Photo: AFP

Li, the world number 58, finished 17th in the Race To Dubai behind Tommy Fleetwood (world number 19) and Justin Rose (world number six), both of whom will be at Fanling for the Hong Kong Open starting on Thursday.

Li will be making his second appearance at Hong Kong Golf Club after a forgettable first attempt two years ago.

“I played in the Hong Kong Open in 2015 but I missed the cut, so I plan to play a lot better this time,” said Li, who won his national Open, the Volvo China Open in 2015.“The course is fairly short but tricky so it’s quite challenging.”