Haotong Li Drops 20 Places During Disastrous 13th Hole At The Masters

Haotong Li has captured the heart of the patrons and viewers at The Masters this year, but his dream turned into a nightmare on that tricky 13th hole at Augusta National.

The Chinese golfer, making his third appearance at The Masters, was never given a chance of challenging at the top of the leaderboard this week. But, he was in the mix until the final day.

Li went into round four at -7, but endured an absolute rollercoaster around Augusta on Sunday.

A bogey-birdie-birdie start offered Li hope of climbing the leaderboard before three bogeys on five through seven all but ended his chances.

He then birdied eight and nine and parred 10 and 11, but that was merely the calm before the storm.

Li struggled on Augusta's infamous 12th hole, recording a triple bogey to drop to -4 for the week. However, it was the par-5 13th that really hurt the rookie.

A trip through the trees from his tee shot didn't help matters, with a penalty stroke leaving Li on five strokes by the time he got anywhere near the green.

From the bushes, stuck between the bunkers, Li then putted right across the green and into the creek. It didn't get much better from there, with another three strokes needed to wrap up the hole.

Li registered a quintiple bogey and dropped down to T38 at that point.

A birdie on 14 repaired some of the damage, before another bogey on 17 canceled it out and left Li at +1 for the week and staring down a disappointing T38 finish.

In his first year on the PGA Tour, Li desperately needed those FedEx points to help him retain his card. That's not to mention the financial damage done by that chaotic ride out of Amen Corner.

The Masters prize purse for this year would have seen Li claim a share of $607,500 if he had finished in 10th. Now, he's looking at earning a share of $105,750 instead.

It has been a fun week for Li, overall, but it's not been without its issues. The 30-year-old has struggled to sleep and admitted over the weekend that he's spent much of his time on the toilet and was close to pulling out of the event during the second round.

"I especially went to the toilet last night a lot of times, and this morning when I got to the golf course and I'm still feeling really bad and I'm kind of, like, living in the toilet.

"I didn’t hit many balls on the driving range. I was feeling really, really bad. No energy, fuzzy, wanted to throw up. I actually just planned to play a few holes and see how it goes. If I was really sick, then I probably would have just decided not to."