Doha win has Li dreaming big again

China's Li Haotong has several messages weaved onto his driver head cover that keeps him focused and motivated.

The one that stands out — "Dream Big".

The 29-year-old Li is now starting to dream big again after claiming a career fourth DP World Tour title, following an emotional triumph at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters on Sunday, which he hopes will help form the building blocks needed to finally put his career on the right path.

Li, who is the only Chinese mainland golfer to compete in the Presidents Cup after qualifying for the International Team in 2019 at Royal Melbourne, holed a winning birdie putt from 15 feet on the 72nd hole at Doha Golf Club, before breaking into a tearful celebration with his caddie.

The one-shot win marked a fourth title on the European tour for the Chinese golfer, who, prior to the start of the day's play was ranked No 300.

His winning putt not only denied Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen of Denmark a playoff, it also fired Li nearly 150 places up the rankings, landing him at No 154.

Li, the overnight leader, shot 3-under 69 in the final round to finish on 16-under par for the week, while Neergaard-Petersen posted 65. The Dane was alone in second place, two shots clear of Brandon Robinson Thompson (70).

"I never thought I could come back from this position," said Li, whose last win was in June 2022 at the BMW International Open. "This morning, I was really stressed."

He became the second successive Asian golfer to win in Qatar, and now hopes to emulate his predecessor, Rikuya Hoshino of Japan, by earning a priceless PGA Tour card via the DP World Tour Top-10.Hoshino was among 10 players from the DP World Tour to secure playing rights on the PGA Tour at the end of last season.

"This time, I will keep working hard and keep the momentum going into the end of the season. My goal is always to try and get my PGA Tour card back, so, hopefully, I'm in a great position right now and, hopefully, I can continue to play some good, solid golf and go to America," said a jubilant Li, who moved up to seventh position in the Race to Dubai rankings.

Li's outstanding victory saw him match compatriot Wu Ashun's four wins on the DP World Tour, which is the most by a Chinese mainland golfer, and much has always been expected from the mercurial Li who was on the brink of quitting the game following the pandemic.

Ranked as high as 32nd in the Official World Golf Ranking in 2018, Li has proven in the past that he can compete against the very best on any given day. He finished third at The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in 2017, following a closing 63 while playing alongside South African legend, Ernie Els on the final day.

"You could see he wasn't backing off. You see some guys get a little bit scared, but he kept going. So it was really special to see," said Els, who played 11 shots worse than Li that day and was Li's captain during the Presidents Cup.

Then, at the 2018 Hero Dubai Desert Classic, the Chinese ace went toe-to-toe with Rory McIlroy and won from two shots back with eight holes to play by making a birdie on the last hole.

Li's Presidents Cup debut, however, was uneventful, as he went 0-2-0 as the International Team narrowly lost 16-14 to a Tiger Woods-led US Team. With the onset of COVID-19, his form became somewhat topsy-turvy, as he missed 14 cuts in 18 starts in 2021 and 18 cuts in 22 starts in 2023, punctuated by his victory at the 2022 BMW International Open which seemed like a bolt from out of the blue, after he holed a dramatic 50-foot birdie in a playoff to win.

The 29-year-old turned pro in 2011 and won his first European title in 2016. His career, though, has ebbed and flowed.

He made the 2019 Presidents Cup team, but played only two matches. He considered quitting golf before beating Thomas Pieters in that shock BMW International Open win.

However, Li has had only four top-10 finishes since then. That included a 2023 season in which his best finish was a T31 at the ISPS Handa Championship.

Hopefully that's about to change.

"I feel great. It's an emotional one," said Li after his triumph in Doha. "I've been playing really well. I handled my emotions quite nicely, especially on that back nine. I kept telling myself I was still in it, and just to keep hitting my shots. If the day was my day, it would come, if not, we'd go again next time.

"On 18, I asked the cameraman what was going on, he said 'you guys are tied', so I needed a birdie to close out. I did what I did. I hit a perfect drive, a little bit off, which is normal, then duffed the bunker shot. Somehow when I stood on that putt I felt like it could be in, then, when it was at halfway, I couldn't control it anymore. I'm very proud and I didn't know the fourth one (win) would come this quickly, either.

"I'm just out of the yips from two years ago."

Li intends to live up to the messages on his driver cover, which also include "No Days Off", "Work Hard", "Trust the Process", "Play like a Champion", "Take the Leap", "Be your own GOAT", "Trust Your Gut "and of course, "Dream Big".

They could well lead him to the PGA Tour at the end of the year.