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Hao Tong Li Makes History For Good And Bad At US Open

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Hao Tong Li made history on Friday, becoming the first Chinese golfer to make the cut at a major. The history he made two days later wasn’t quite so positive.

Li posted a +22 at Erin Hills over the weekend, the 68th-best performance at the tournament and the worst of any golfer to make the cut. Despite the poor finish, Li took home the most prize money for a last-place weekend finisher in US Open history, netting $22,729 for his efforts.

The US Open had a total purse of $12 Million, the most in golf history, with winner Brook Koepka taking home a record $2.16 Million. Those record-setting numbers trickled all the way down throughout the payouts, extending to Li’s last-place finish.

Li, who turned professional at 16 and has had success on the European Tour, started the tournament well and was even through two rounds, ahead of the cut line of +2 to set a record for his country. Things soured over the weekend with a 10-over 82 Saturday and a 12-over 84 on the tournament’s final day.

By performing well enough to make the cut Li guaranteed himself more than $12,000 more than those who did not make it to weekend play, a list that included the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jason Day an Dustin Johnson.

Those three golfers, all of whom remained ranked in the Top 4 in the world despite their poor showing and have earned more than $35 Million each in their careers, made just $10,000 for their efforts at Erin Hills. Day had the worst performance of the three, shooting a 154 over two days, earning $64.94 for each stroke. McIlroy and Johnson shot a 149 and 148, respectively, earning $67.11 and $67.57 per stroke.

Li outdid all of them both on the course and in his bank account. Despite closing the tournament with two disappointing days, Li shot a 310 for the tournament, earning $73.32 per stroke. And while his +22 was an unsightly score, you only have to go back a year to find a worse performance as Justin Hicks finished last among golfers to make the cut at the 2016 US Open with a +24, earning $22,321 for his efforts.

The history made by Li this weekend was both good and bad, but surely the 21-year-old will take his historic $22,729 paycheck as a start to his PGA Tour career earnings total.