China's Li Haotong climbs to 50th in the world

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Li Haotong, 23, has climbed from last week's 54th to 50th in the world rankings after the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai.

As the current Chinese No.1 in golf, Li shared the 11th place together with Billy Horschel of the US and Jason Day of Australia during the Champions, which was held at Shanghai's Sheshan International Golf Club between October 25-28.

After turning professional in 2011, Li played his early career in the OneAsia Tour and Australia PGA Tour. He is also a two-time PGA European Tour winner. He took his first victory at the Volvo China Open in May 2016.

Li Haotong of China plays his second shot on the second hole during the final round of the WGC – HSBC Champions at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, China, October 28, 2018. /VCG Photo

The young promising Chinese golfer jumped from 134th in the world in 2016 to 58th at the year-end ranking in 2017. So far, Li has played 151 events in total and competed in 25 events annually since 2016.

Last year, he finished third during both the Rocco Forte Open in May and the British Open in July.

The recently concluded WGC-HSBC event is one of the four World Golf Championships played across the globe and the only World Golf Championship in Asia. Its overall prize money has risen to 10 million US dollars. American golfer Xander Schauffele, 25, beat fellow American Tony Finau to win the HSBC Champions. Schauffele has risen to 12th from last week's 19th in the world rankings.