PGA Championship 2020: Haotong Li becomes folk hero when seen practising nearly 12 hours after second-round tee-time

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China’s Haotong Li, the surprise 36-hole leader at the PGA Championship, is largely an unknown to American golf fans. But for those watching the TV coverage of the second round of the tournament, the 25-year-old European Tour member started to develop the reputation as one of the game’s ultimate grinders.

Li finished off his five-under 65 on Friday at 12:08pm, San Francisco time, his eight-under total for 36 holes giving him the clubhouse lead that held up for the rest of the day. Yet there were the ESPN cameras, spotting him at TPC Harding Park hard at work on his game well into the late afternoon.

He was seen on the range:

And on the putting green:

And over working on chip shots:

https://twitter.com/ForesightSports/status/1291907210700677120

At each spot, Li looked like the only guy left practising at all. And remember, he had teed off at 7:11am, meaning he probably arrived at the course about 6am. Meaning he’d logged in one serious day of work.

Just when you thought that Li had spent nearly 12 straight hours at the golf course, David Duval slipped into the commentary that he had learned something to dim slightly the legend of Haotong. After his round Li had actually gone back to the place he was staying, eaten and taken a nap… then returned to Harding Park to get in a little extra work.

Even so, Li’s return and subsequent 90-plus minutes of practice received plenty of airtime and lots of commentary on social media:

Jason Day, having played in the afternoon and then talked to ESPN after his round, said he saw Li on the practice green before he teed off at 1pm. That he was then there still practising when Day was finished playing about 6pm caused the Queenslander to contemplate the same thought that many were having: it’s time to go home.