PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — Li Haotong is in contention to become the first man from China, a country of 1.4 billion people, to win a major golf championship.
The No. 111-ranked Li will play in the final pairing at the British Open on Sunday with Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1.
Scheffler leads by four strokes from Li, who is alone in second place at Royal Portrush.
Here are some things to know about the Chinese golfer. In short, he's quite a character.
He is a 29-year-old from Hunan, China. He started out caddying for his father, who played golf while also owning a car dealership in their home city.
Li's parents now travel the world with him as he splits his time between playing on the PGA Tour and European tour.
He turned pro in 2011 and first got on the European tour in 2016.
This is Li's 15th appearance in a major and his best finish was a tie for third at the British Open at Royal Birkdale in 2017, when he shot a final-round 63. He was six strokes behind the winner, Jordan Spieth.
In 2020, Li was the first Chinese player to hold the lead after any round in a major championship thanks to a bogey-free 65 in the second round of the PGA Championship. That left him two shots clear. He wound up finishing 17th.
Li's last major appearance came in 2022 when he missed the cut at the British Open at St. Andrews.
Li is a four-time winner on the European tour, most recently at the Qatar Masters in February when he holed a birdie putt from 15 feet at the last hole to secure a one-shot victory and wept in the arms of his caddie.
His first was nearly a decade earlier at the China Open in 2016, the year he joined the tour.
Li was involved in one of the most bizarre incidents in the history of the European tour.
While playing the French Open in 2017, Li threw his club into the water out of frustration after bogeying the par-3 11th hole at Le Golf National. Moments later, his mother rolled up her shorts and waded through the muddy pond to recover it. After she grabbed it, she returned to dry land, realized it was broken — her son had snapped it — and threw it back in the water.
After the incident, Li played the final seven holes in level par using a sand wedge as a putter.
Li once had the following in red capital letters on the back of his 60-degree wedge: “HAOTONG IS THE MOST HANDSOME MAN IN CHINA."
Oh, and Li also follows an English soccer team — Sunderland. Well, kind of. He was guided down that road by an ex-caddie, who was a fan of the team from northeast England.
While no man from China has captured a major title, two women have.
The first was Shanshan Feng, who won the LPGA Championship in 2012. Ruoning Yin won the Women’s PGA Championship in 2021.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Li Haotong of China plays his shot on the 15th fairway during the second round of the British Open golf championship at the Royal Portrush Golf Club, Northern Ireland, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Li Haotong of China plays his shot on the 6th tee during the third round of the British Open golf championship at the Royal Portrush Golf Club, Northern Ireland, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Li Haotong of China taps hands with members of the public as he walks to the 18th tee during the third round of the British Open golf championship at the Royal Portrush Golf Club, Northern Ireland, Saturday, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Glenn Hall, a Hockey Hall of Famer whose ironman streak of 502 starts as a goaltender remains an NHL record, has died. He was 94.
Nicknamed “Mr. Goalie,” Hall worked to stop pucks at a time when players at his position were bare-faced, before masks of any kind became commonplace. He did it as well as just about anyone of his generation, which stretched from the days of the Original Six into the expansion era.
A spokesperson for the Chicago Blackhawks confirmed the team received word of Hall’s death from his family. A league historian in touch with Hall’s son, Pat, said Hall died at a hospital in Stony Plain, Alberta, on Wednesday.
A pioneer of the butterfly style of goaltending of dropping to his knees, Hall backstopped Chicago to the Stanley Cup in 1961. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs in 1968 with St. Louis when the Blues reached the final before losing to Montreal. He was the second of just six Conn Smythe winners from a team that did not hoist the Cup.
His run of more than 500 games in net is one of the most untouchable records in sports, given how the position has changed in the decades since. Second in history is Alec Connell with 257 from 1924-30.
“Glenn was sturdy, dependable and a spectacular talent in net,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “That record, set from 1955-56 to 1962-63, still stands, probably always will, and is almost unfathomable — especially when you consider he did it all without a mask.”
Counting the postseason, Hall started 552 games in a row.
Hall won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1956 when playing for the Detroit Red Wings. After two seasons, he was sent to the Black Hawks along with legendary forward Ted Lindsay.
Hall earned two of his three Vezina Trophy honors as the league's top goalie with Chicago, in 1963 and '67. The Blues took him in the expansion draft when the NHL doubled from six teams to 12, and he helped them reach the final in each of their first three years of existence, while winning the Vezina again at age 37.
Hall was in net when Boston's Bobby Orr scored in overtime to win the Cup for the Bruins in 1970, a goal that's among the most famous in hockey history because of the flying through the air celebration that followed. He played one more season with St. Louis before retiring in 1971.
“His influence extended far beyond the crease," Blues chairman Tom Stillman said. “From the very beginning, he brought credibility, excellence, and heart to a new team and a new NHL market.”
A native of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Hall was a seven-time first-team NHL All-Star who had 407 wins and 84 shutouts in 906 regular-season games. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975, and his No. 1 was retired by Chicago in 1988.
Hall was chosen as one of the top 100 players in the league's first 100 years.
Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz called Hall an innovator and “one of the greatest and most influential goaltenders in the history of our sport and a cornerstone of our franchise.”
“We are grateful for his extraordinary contributions to hockey and to our club, and we will honor his memory today and always,” Wirtz said.
The Blackhawks paid tribute to Hall and former coach and general manager Bob Pulford with a moment of silence before Wednesday night’s game against St. Louis. Pulford died Monday.
A Hall highlight video was shown on the center-ice videoboard. The lights were turned off for the moment of silence, except for a spotlight on the No. 1 banner for Hall that hangs in the rafters at the United Center.
Fellow Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur, the league's leader in wins with 691 and games played with 1,266, posted a photo of the last time he saw Hall along with a remembrance of him.
“Glenn Hall was a legend, and I was a big fan of his,” Brodeur said on social media. “He set the standard for every goaltender who followed. His toughness and consistency defined what it meant to play.”
AP Sports Writer Jay Cohen in Chicago contributed to this report.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
FILE - Glenn Hall, second from left, stands with fellow former Chicago Blackhawks players Stan Mikita, former general manager Tommy Ivan, Bobby Hull, Bill Wirtz and Tony Esposito during a pre-game ceremony at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Ill., April 14, 1994. (AP Photo/Fred Jewell, File)
FILE - St. Louis Blues goalie Glenn Hall, top right, is pinned to his net waiting to make a save on a Montreal Canadians shot as Blues' Noel Picard (4) tries to block the puck while Canadiens' John Ferguson (22) and Ralph Backstorm wait for a rebound in the third period of their NHL hockey Stanley Cup game, May 5, 1968. (AP Photo/Fred Waters, File)
