Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images

Haotong Li posts message for Scottie Scheffler after his Open Championship masterclass

Originally posted on HITC | By Peter Lynch | Last updated Jul 22, 2025 11:33 AM ET

Scottie Scheffler put on another show to win The Open Championship, but Haotong Li also made plenty of headlines with his play.

Scheffler has now been compared to Tiger Woods following his four-shot win at Royal Portrush.

He finished 17-under at The Open, ahead of Harris English in second and Chris Gotterup in third.

On the other hand, Li finished fourth, tied with Wyndham Clark and Matt Fitzpatrick. The Chinese golfer enjoyed the experience of playing with Scheffler and likely took a lot away from their round together on Sunday.

Haotong Li reaches out to Scottie Scheffler following Open victory

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Li used Instagram to reflect on his performance at The Open – and shared a grateful message, also congratulating Scheffler.

He posted: “Final group on Sunday is something else. Congrats to Scottie for a well-deserved victory. Thank you The Open – truly a week to remember and cherish, and the start of a new journey!”

Ver essa foto no Instagram

Uma publicação compartilhada por 李昊桐 (@haotong66)

Justin Thomas sends message to Haotong Li after he impresses at The Open

Li appears set for more regular appearances alongside the game’s top players, currently holding third place in the Race to Dubai standings.

In that DP World Tour list, only Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton are above him, and the top 10 players not already exempt earn PGA Tour cards by season’s end.

Position	Player	Points
1	Rory McIlroy	3,157.16
2	Tyrrell Hatton	2,047.65
3	Haotong Li	1,895.72
4	Marco Penge	1,838.10
5	Kristoffer Reitan	1,799.61
6	Laurie Canter	1,687.45
7	John Parry	1,657.30
8	Martin Couvra	1,638.78
9	Robert MacIntyre	1,607.79
10	Justin Rose	1,518.77

2025 Race to Dubai rankings

He has already shown he can compete with the best, with Justin Thomas among those who were impressed by his performance.

The American two-time major winner commented on Li’s post: “I’m just glad you added the selfie. Well played bro.”

And Li replied: “I’m just glad you actually slide to the last pic! Very impressive brother. BTW message from last night was very helpful!”

This isn’t new territory for him though. Li made headlines back in 2017 when he finished third at The Open held at Royal Birkdale, a tournament won by Jordan Spieth.

This time around, he posted rounds of 67, 67, 69 and 70 – something that should only add to his confidence moving forward.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: