Competing at Augusta National comes with pressure. Now imagine doing it while barely being able to stand up straight. That was Haotong Li’s reality heading into Round 2 of the 2026 Masters, and somehow, he came out the other side looking like a contender. The 30-year-old shared what his night before the second round looked like.

“Went to a toilet last night a lot of times and this morning when I got to the golf course and still feeling really bad. Kind of like living in the toilet,” Li said. “I didn’t hit many balls on the driving range. I was feeling really, really bad. No energy, fuzzy, want to throw up something. I actually just planned to play a few holes, see how it goes. If really sick, then I probably just decide not to.”

And yet, Li went out and shot a 3-under 69 in Round 2, moving to 3-under overall and placing himself firmly in the mix at T7. After four birdies helped him find his footing, his body apparently agreed to cooperate.

“Especially after that four birdies. Somehow I felt quite nice,” he said.

His Augusta record already showed he could handle the course. In his 2018 debut, he opened with a 3-under 69. In 2019, he carded a 4-under 68 in the final round, his best-ever score at the venue, and made the cut both times.

The 2026 season has continued to build on that momentum. He posted a T8 at The American Express and a T11 at the Farmers Insurance Open in his first three starts and ranks 17th on the PGA Tour in Greens in Regulation at 70.09%. Augusta rewards that kind of ball-striking consistency, and Li is capitalizing on it, despite his stomach troubles.

Meanwhile, off the course, Haotong Li has a story that will make you laugh involving #2.

A story Haotong Li can’t escape

Augusta brings out the serious side of every competitor, but Li showed during Masters week that he can also have fun. The golfer told a humorous story on Golf Channel about the time Rory McIlroy asked him to play a round of golf with him and Brad Faxon, McIlroy’s putting coach, joined them. What’s the problem? Li had no idea who Faxon was at all.

Faxon has won eight times on the PGA Tour, but by the time Haotong Li met him, the 64-year-old was well past his prime as a player. Li didn’t know the name or the resume, so he treated him like any other partner in a game. When Faxon’s coworkers at Golf Channel heard the story again, they all laughed.

It’s even better that McIlroy found it funny enough to repeat the story so often that Haotong Li was asked about it on TV.

However, both golfers share more than just that story. McIlroy and Li have played golf together before, like when they went to Bear’s Club, and Rory told Li to just enjoy the game. That kind of advice clearly worked, but Li has also shown that he doesn’t need to look up to McIlroy on a scorecard. He beat him at the Dubai Desert Classic in 2018, which was the first time he became known around the world and showed that he was a real force in world golf.

Now that the reigning champion is leading the scorecard, can Haotong Li beat him again?

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