Tokyo 2020: Carl Yuan Yuchen passes Li Haotong as China’s No 1 golfer, on course for Olympics
- Tied-7th finish in Knoxville sees 24-year-old leapfrog Li in OWGR rankings and puts him on track to earn PGA Tour card
- Leapfrogging Li as Chinese No 1 puts Yuan on plane for Olympics golf tournament this summer
China’s Carl Yuan Yechun fired himself to another Korn Ferry International Tour top-10 finish and surpassed Li Haotong as the country’s top golfer.
That puts Yuan in the driving seat for China’s spot at the men’s Olympic golf tournament just five weeks before the golfers are confirmed.
His place on the 60-player list of current qualifiers at the expense of Li is expected to be confirmed when the next weekly update of the rankings takes place later today.
Yuan was on the latest Olympic Reallocation Reserve List as first replacement for world No 11 and Olympic No 8 Victor Hovland, which gives hope that China could yet have two golfers in the men’s tournament.
The OWGR, which also runs the Olympic rankings, explains the qualification process on its website.
“In regard to qualifying, the world rankings will determine the field of 60 men and 60 women athletes in the following way: The top-15 world-ranked players will be eligible for the Olympics, with a limit of four players from a given country [beyond the top-15, players will be eligible based on the world rankings, with a maximum of two eligible players from each country that does not already have two or more players among the top-15].”
Chinese pair Feng Shanshan and Yu Liu are both on the women’s Olympic qualifying ranking list.
While Dalian-born Yuan was posting a final round 65 to finish tied for seventh at the Visit Knoxville Open on Sunday, Li, 25, missed the cut at the British Masters at the Belfry over the weekend.
The 24-year-old Yuan finished 13-under par at the Holston Hills Country Club in Knoxville, Tennessee, seven behind Grayson Seag. It was his sixth top-10 finish on this season’s Korn Ferry Tour, which resumed from its Covid-19 hiatus in February.
The latest top-10 finish has taken University of Washington graduate Yuan to 274th on the Official World Golf Ranking, up from 295th. Li has dropped to 293rd from 282nd.
His longer term prospects of a PGA Tour card also got a boost. He is now 22nd on the Korn Ferry Tour points list, up from 25th before Knoxville. The top 25 players earn a PGA card.
Li ready to rise to the occasion for International Team at Presidents Cup ‘
Yuan was 51st on the Korn Ferry Tour points list when the season resumed in February.
Even if Yuan misses out on the top 25, there are an additional 25 PGA Tour cards handed out at the three-tournament end-of-season Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
Only two Chinese golfers, Marty Dou Zecheng and Zhang Xinjun, have earned a PGA Tour card.
