Rookie Bobby reigns in the rain

China's "Bobby" Bai Zhengkai fired a final-round 67 to secure a two-stroke victory over American David Kocher (73) at the rain-affected Huangshan Championship in Anhui province on Sunday.

The event was reduced to 54 holes due to bad weather over the opening two days.

Bai started the final day four shots behind overnight leader Kocher but managed to turn things around to earn his first victory on the PGA Tour Series-China.

After making the turn at evenpar, Bai racked up five birdies on the back nine to finish with a 12-under total. Chinese amateur Chen Guxin was third on 9-under.

"I thought if I played OK on the front nine, then I could have a chance today," said Bai. "I shot 7-under on the back nine in the first two rounds so I thought I could have a another good run on the back nine again.

"I just really enjoy the back nine and I played it great again. I chipped in on hole 14 which was huge for me and really helped give me the boost to win."

Bai played three years at the University of Central Florida but quit the golf team in order to turn pro in May.

He began playing golf when he was 7 years old and has also received coaching from renowned coach Sean Foley, who has worked with Tiger Woods.

Now the youngster must decide whether he wants to return to school to finish his finance degree or keep playing as a pro.

Either way, Bai was thrilled to get the victory and become the first player from China to win on the tour this season.

"It's awesome to win for my country. It really means a lot," said Bai, who is hoping to follow in the footsteps of current Korn Ferry Tour (formerly the Web.com Tour) player Zhang Xinjun.

"I actually just talked to Xinjun last night and he told me to catch up."

Bai is already looking to keep the momentum going and play in as many pro events as he can this summer while he continues to weigh his options.

"My plan now is I'm going to play a few Korn Ferry Tour Monday qualifiers and play a few more PGA Tour Series-China events. After that I'm not sure. I know I still have to do the schoolwork but I also want to keep playing."

Bai has played in only two previous PGA Tour Series-China tournaments. He tied for 57th in his debut, at the Qinhuangdao Championship, and tied for 28th last week at the Suzhou Open.

"In Florida it rains a lot so I've already gotten used to the rain so it didn't affect me a lot," Bai said of the testing conditions in Huangshan. "I only saw the score on hole 18. So when I saw the scoreboard on the final hole I was very happy."

Bai has had a decorated amateur career. He reached a career-high amateur world ranking of 134 and played in the 2018 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, where he finished ninth.

For Kocher, finishing as runnerup was a tough pill to swallow. After holding a three-shot lead at the start of the day, the American failed to get any momentum going on Sunday but admitted moving to the top of the order of merit was not a bad consolation prize.

"It's not the round I wanted but it was still a great tournament. I played great in the first two days but just didn't hit it well today," said Kocher, who turned pro in 2018 after graduating from the University of Maryland. "I'm still very happy with the way I hung in there and it feels good to be No 1 on the order of merit so I can't be too disappointed.

"I tried to stick to my game plan and hit quality golf shots all around and let them come to me and try to shoot another under-par round but it just didn't work out. That's golf."