A veteran journalist from Seville, known for his football coverage, used to say years ago that he didn’t need a radio in the car (imagine how long ago that was) whenever he shared the road with another colleague. It was his way of saying that his colleague wouldn’t stop talking, not even during the bumps. Something similar happens with Haotong Li, the latest champion of the DP World Tour and a participant this Thursday in one of the afternoon’s star matches at the Magical Kenya Open alongside Spaniard Ángel Hidalgo and local Njoroge Kibugu.
Playing 18 holes with the good-natured Haotong is one of those experiences you never forget. Let it be clear for the most sceptical that he is a well-liked guy, extremely friendly, and you can count on one hand those who don’t get along with him. He’s talkative, humorous, and charming, but he has his quirks and can turn a round of golf into quite a lengthy affair.
One of his trademarks, for example, is his tone of voice. With Haotong, you don’t need a virtual GPS app to know which hole he’s playing. Just listen carefully, and you’re set. He talks a lot and talks loudly. Very loudly at times. He talks to the caddie, his partners, his ball, the other player’s ball, and if you’re not careful, to the ball of the group in front and the one behind.
He’s a workaholic of the spoiler. If a partner’s ball looks halfway decent, he doesn’t hesitate to celebrate it as if it were his own: “look good, look good, look good!”. Of course, we all know how golf can sometimes surprise you when you get ahead of yourself. Television commentators, for example, are experts in this field. The ball looks good, but a bad bounce here or there, an unexpected gust of wind, or a more pronounced effect than anticipated… and drama ensues. It happens to Haotong.
If you’ve played golf for just one day, just one day, no more is needed, you’ll have realised that few things can disturb a golfer’s psyche more than an encouraging, excited, and motivating comment from a playing partner towards their ball… and the result not being good. The intention is impeccable, but at the moment, you need to count to three. In fact, there are players who don’t hesitate to clarify before or during a round that no one is authorised to talk to their ball apart from themselves.
Haotong Li can be exasperating, but we insist that he’s well-liked and very charming. He’s forgiven. His relationship with Spanish golfers is really good. In fact, it’s always been said that he has a bit of a Latin flair in the way he behaves on the golf course, due to how expressive he is. In that sense, his way of interacting with the public or the camera, for example, is very similar to Hidalgo, who played with him for the first time today. They also resemble each other in hitting the driver with every single newton they can generate. Haotong Li isn’t quite one of the Armada, like the Italians, but there’s a great vibe. In fact, he’s known as the crazy Chinese guy, they call him that directly, in Spanish, Haotong knows it and laughs heartily. A good guy.
It wasn’t the best day for the Chinese player at the Muthaiga Golf Club. He started with +1, nine strokes behind the leaders John Parry and Benjamin Hebert (-8). However, it shouldn’t be considered a disaster, as the afternoon results were notably worse than those in the morning. And that’s despite the wind not blowing too strongly. It’s true that there are many trees on the course, which can be deceiving, but the main reason for the poorer results wasn’t so much the wind as the conditions of the greens. They were much more difficult in the afternoon and, above all, very inconsistent. One moment the ball would take a strong bounce, and the next, it would be soft. Almost like a lottery.
Even so, as always, there are players who managed to climb up. This is the case for Frenchman Benjamin Hebert (-8). He putted spectacularly. Who knows if Jorge Campillo (PAR) might have done better today using the putter the Frenchman lent him yesterday. It would have been hard to do worse, as the player from Extremadura, who received his clubs yesterday afternoon, played quite well from tee to green but didn’t sink a putt.
Besides Hebert, it’s worth highlighting the afternoon results of Korean Wooyoung Cho (-6), Swede Christopher Blomstrand (-5), or Frenchman Adrien Saddier (-5). As for the Spaniards, Ángel Hidalgo (-1) was the only one who managed to play under par, in a very eventful round. He felt he hit the ball better than the result showed, and despite the difficulty of the greens, he managed to roll the ball well. The feelings are good. Santi Tarrio, like Campillo, made PAR, with two birdies in the final stretch. Precisely, PAR is the score that currently marks the cut.
Among the Kenyans, the best placed is Riz Charania (-2), highlighting the more than competitive result of Shashwat Harish (+3), a 15-year-old amateur playing in his first tournament on the DP World Tour.
