Masters star suffers awkward toilet trouble at Augusta and speaks out after | Golf | Sport
Haotong Li confessed he was battling more than just the Masters nerves at Augusta. Li, the 30-year-old Chinese ace, has endured an inconsistent 2026 thus far, having missed the cut in five tournaments, including in four of his last five going into The Masters.
The PGA Tour star’s strongest finish this year came at the American Express – also known as the Desert Classic – where he finished T8. Now, the star has disclosed he was feeling decidedly unwell despite the fact that the sun was beaming at Augusta. His revelation comes after Brooks Koepka also shared an embarrassing blunder he made before turning his day around.
Speaking about Friday’s round, the Chinese star acknowledged that he had been poorly in the hours before his day at Augusta. The 30 year old also disclosed that he was taken aback by how well he performed despite the problems he had been facing.
“Especially went to the toilet last night a lot of times, and this morning when I got to the golf course and still feeling really bad and kind of, like, lived in the toilet,” he shared after his day. “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. So glad I survived today. Especially after that four birdies. Somehow I felt quite nice.”
On Friday, the player carded a 3-under 69 to conclude the day within striking distance of some of the tour’s biggest names. It came after a 1-under 71 performance to begin his latest visit to Augusta. This marks Li’s third Masters appearance, although it is his first outing since 2019. When asked which moment of his round indicated he was feeling stronger, the player pointed to a particular hole on the back nine that confirmed his body was responding well.
“I think the best moment is that number 15, the par-5. I got wind wrong,” he recalled. “Was super tough chip over there and got something, like, incredibly up and down and pretty much, like, from there everything is going so well.”
Given his history at Augusta, the player also confessed that he paused to glance at the leaderboard, and spotting his name amongst the sport’s elite was a moment he savoured. “Actually, pretty cool and didn’t expect it as well. Just hopefully I can perform something better or same stuff on the weekend,” he concluded.
As things stand, Li finds himself in the middle of the field, positioned at T7 alongside Jason Day, Wyndham Clark and Tyrrell Hatton. Above him are Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Patrick Reed and Sam Burns. Perched at the summit of the leaderboard at Augusta is Rory McIlroy, who is aiming to make history once more this year by joining Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods as the only competitors to claim consecutive Green Jackets.
