Rocco Forte Open: Top Five Power Rankings
No. 1 Li Haotong
The Li Haotong bandwagon conducted by yours truly chugs along to Italy this week.
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It’s understandable how an international touring player from a non-golfing rich nation like China can fly under the radar. Haotong’s most high-profile finish is a T7 at the 2016 WGC-HSBC Champions in his home country. He’s also yet to start in a major, though those days for the 21-year-old could be numbered.
He has won at every professional level he’s played, namely as a 20-year-old rookie at the 2016 China Open. He came close to picking up win No. 2 later in the year at the Turkish Airlines Open finishing T2 ahead of some of the Tour’s big hitters like Lee Westwood, Danny Willett, and Tyrrell Hatton.
Overall in a quiet first half of 2017 he’s logged four made cuts in seven events with a T5 at the Maybank Championship his top mark. He also tied for 11th in his defense of the China Open.
Equipped with two weeks of rest, China’s rising star is No. 141 in the world and climbing. If he can build upon a pair of solid starts outside of his home country at some point down the road, he could ease his way into more of the golf public’s eye.
A win at the Rocco Forte Open is a good place to start.
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Golf Channel will provide tv coverage of the European Tour’s Rocco Forte Open beginning at 6am ET, Thursday, May 18.