Haotong Li takes the lead in PGA Championship

Rise and shine. That was the mantra for Haotong Li on the second day of the 102nd PGA Championship. Among the early starters, the Chinese star took off with a pair of birdies at the top of his round, and never really looked back from there. Li made the turn in 31 strokes, moving to 8-under par with birdies at 9 & 10. Overnight leader Jason Day regained a share of the lead through eleven holes, three-under for the day. Brendon Todd remained rooted to his overnight 5-under, with an even 70 at TPC Harding Park.

Tommy Fleetwood shot a scintillating 6-under 64 to climb 45 spots into third, two strokes behind Li. The Englishman man-made seven birdies on Friday, working from an even 70 in the opening round. Cameron Champ emulated Fleetwood with a 64 of his own, climbing 64 spots after making a 71 on Thursday. Paul Casey shot a 67 to climb inside the top ten, T5 at -5. Lanto Griffin made another 68 to go 4-under while Matthew Wolff also made 68 and is lying a further stroke back from Griffin.

At the par-4 first, Haotong produced a 304 yard drive to the left intermediate and worked his way to just two feet from the flag for a bright start. After finding the centre of the fairway on the second, the Chinese star produced a laser guided putt from more than 22 feet to reinforce his prospects.

Li added birdies at the fifth, ninth and tenth holes to extend his lead halfway through the second round. He came home on a string of seven pars to enjoy the views even as many of his competitors were waiting to begin their rounds.

The 25-year-old recorded his best major result at the 2017 Open Championship, when he finished third, six strokes behind Jordan Spieth. However, his recent form did not suggest any sort of magic up his sleeve. He missed the cut at the Memorial with scores of 74 & 77. At the WGC-FedEx St Jude Classic last week, Li finished near the bottom of the field. Even though he got off to an encouraging 67, he shot 73, 74 & 75 from there to slip down the order.

“Well, I’ve got no expectation actually, because you know, last few months, (I was forced to) stay at home doing nothing,” Li said. “I just want to go out here have fun.”

“The last couple days I’ve been pretty much all hit in the right spot,” Li added. “Even if I miss the green, I still got a chance to up-and-down, and also got a lot of good lies in the rough.”

But he hasn’t shown much frailty so far this week. He shot a bogey-free 65 to add to a healthy 67 on Thursday for a 8-under 132 through 36 holes. Hideki Matsuyama (67) and Si Woo Kim (68) are lying in T15 at 3-under 137.