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Tribune News Network
Doha
South Korea's Wang Jeunghun and Li Haotong of China will make their tournament debuts at the 20th Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in late January after finishing first and second in the 2016 European Tour Rookie of the Year standings.
The two 21-year-olds who were the two youngest male golfers in the 2016 Olympic Men's Golf Competition in Rio de Janeiro have frequently crossed paths around the world while growing into two of Asia's most exciting talents.
Both are graduates of the PGA TOUR China Series, with Wang winning the circuit's inaugural event in 2014 and Li winning the Order of Merit that year. It was a year to remember in 2016 with both claiming their first European Tour titles and in August qualifying to represent their respective countries at the Olympic Games.
The pair continued to battle it out for the European Tour Rookie of the Year title, with Li leading the way after finishing joint runner-up at November's Turkish Airlines Open before Wang regained the lead the following week by finishing second behind Sweden's Alex Noren at the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player in South Africa.
Wang made his European Tour breakthrough in May by bagging back-to-back wins at the Troph`e Hassan II in Morocco and AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, just two months after sharing second place at the Hero Indian Open in March.
Wang eventually finished 16th in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex and is now looking forward to his first appearance at the long-standing Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, which will be held from January 26-29, 2017.
"I've heard a lot of good things about the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and am really excited about playing in the tournament. I know it has many very famous champions," said Wang, who finished his 2016 European Tour season with a tie for 17th at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
"I've never played any of the events on the Desert Swing in the Middle East early in the year, but I played quite well in Dubai at the end of the season so that will give me some confidence when I play in Qatar. It's great to be playing in the 20th year of the tournament."
Li, who's just over a month older than Wang, will also be among the tournament debutants after winning his first European Tour title at Volvo China Open in Beijing in April.
Li made European Tour headlines in April 2015 when he lost a playoff at the Shenzhen International before leading the Volvo China Open. In November that year he made global headlines when he tied for seventh at the $9.5 million WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai, playing his final round with Jordan Spieth.
After an up-and-down start to the 2016 European Tour and only gaining his full card after the Volvo China Open, he finished the season strongly, only missing one cut in his final nine events. At the end of November, Li and good friend Wu Ashun finished runner-up in the World Cup of Golf in Melbourne for China's best-ever result in the event.
"I had a good year and will be fit and ready to play in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in January. I know a bit about the tournament because Wu Ashun played there in 2016 and he will play again in Qatar so that will help a lot," said Li, who was also Wu's teammate at the Olympics.
"I want to play well early in the season and I know Doha Golf Club is quite a long course, so I hope it suits my game."
