HERO DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC

January 18, 2024

Li Haotong

Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club

Press Conference

Q. You opened your account with a 5-under par 67. Describe your play for us today?

LI HAOTONG: I think I played just solid as last week. I've been working on a lot of stuff during the wintertime and see some result like this, kind of like slowly pay back now.

Q. A past champion here in 2018, you held off Rory McIlroy down the stretch. How good are the vibes when you come back to a course where you've played well before?

LI HAOTONG: Definitely. Especially after last week, good performance, and I can't believe it's six years agony way. It's just had a lot of great memories and hopefully I can continue to do some magic here.

Q. You're a multiple winner on tour and you reached 32ND in the World Rankings but you had a torrid time last year playing 22 tournaments and missing 18 cuts. What was the problem, and how have you fixed it? Because you clearly have.

LI HAOTONG: I think most of the time off the tee. And especially I saw that stroke last week finally become ingrained now. Finally happy to see that and hopefully I can maintain that and improve that.

Q. How tough was it mentally to have been a player that was winning and contending regularly, and then suddenly you weren't competitive?

LI HAOTONG: Yeah, it happens. Just golf. I don't know. Hopefully don't happen again, and I will definitely more behave this time.