The 5 Best Chinese Golfers Of All Time
These male and female golfers have blazed a trail for Chinese golfers internationally, creating many firsts along the way
China is a vast country with a massive population, but the number of top-tier professional golfers it's produced arguably sits well below what one might expect.
That said, various players have made a mark on the international stage, including these five...
Shanshan Feng
Shanshan Feng was a pioneering figure in Chinese golf as the first player from mainland China to earn an LPGA Tour card and the first to win an LPGA event.
Having not previously finished higher than 22nd in her previous 16 Major appearances, she won the 2012 LPGA Championship. She was never to win another Major, yet finished in the top 10 in one a further 17 times.
In November 2017, she reached World No.1 in the Women’s World Golf Rankings, remaining there for 23 weeks. She won the bronze medal in women's golf at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Ruoning Yin
Aged 16, Ruoning Yin was part of the bronze medal-winning Chinese women’s team at the 2018 Asian Games.
She won her first three tournaments on the China LPGA Tour. In April 2023 she won the LA Open, the second Chinese winner on the LPGA Tour, and in June of that year she became the second Chinese woman to win a Major, when she triumphed at the Women’s PGA Championship, aged 20. That September she became women's World No.1.
Haotong Li
Haotong Li watches one of his drives at the Irish Open of 2026
In winning the Order of Merit on the inaugural PGA Tour China, Haotong Li qualified for the web.com Tour (now Korn Ferry Tour), the first Chinese man to do so.
In his home country in the inaugural Shenzhen International, in 2015, he finished tied in the lead after 72 holes. But he lost the playoff to Kiradech Aphibarnrat. T
he following year came the first of his four wins to date on the European Tour, when he won the co-sanctioned China Open. In 2018, with four birdies in the last six holes, he won the Dubai Desert Classic by a shot from Rory McIlroy.
This win moved him from 60th to 32nd on the Official World Golf Ranking, the first man from China to break into the top 50.
Wu Ashun
When Wu Ashun won the Toshin Golf Tournament in September 2012, he was the first golfer from China to win on the Japan Golf Tour.
When he won the co-sanctioned China Open in 2015 he was the first Chinese golfer to win on home soil in a European Tour event. With his win at the 2016 Lyoness Open, he became the first Chinese golfer to win multiple titles on the European Tour. His win in last year's China Open was his fifth win on the DP World Tour.
Lianwei Zhang is congratulated by Ernie Els after winning the 2003 Caltex Singapore Masters
Lianwei Zhang
At the co-sanctioned 2003 Caltex Singapore Masters, Lianwei Zhang was in the final group on the final day with World No. 2 Ernie Els, and two shots behind the South African entering the day.
On the 72nd tee Els held a one-shot lead, but pulled his tee shot into the trees, and ended up making a bogey five. Zhang played his approach to 10 feet and drained the birdie putt to become the first Chinese golfer to win on the European Tour.
His win, which was also the fifth of his six wins on the Asian tour, propelled him 45 places up the world rankings to 96th. It also earned him an invitation to The Masters, the first player from mainland China to compete in the tournament. He joined the European Senior Tour in 2015 and won the Wales Senior Open the following year.
Honourable mention: Guan Tianlang
An honorable mention, when considering pioneering achievements, must go to Guan Tianlang. Aged 14 years and five months, he became the youngest man to make the cut in a Major championship.
By winning the 2012 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, he qualified for the 2013 Masters, where he finished 58th and was leading amateur. But his career has not lived up to its early promise and this has been his one and only Major appearance. He now plays on the China Tour where his best finish is 4th at the 2020 China Open.
