One shot at a time. It sounds simple, and at times cliche, but for Lucy Li, it will be one of the biggest challenges she faces this weekend as she looks to hunt down her first victory on the LPGA Tour at the Buick LPGA Shanghai.

“It's really important not to get ahead of myself. It has to be every shot at a time,” Li said on Friday about her mindset heading into the weekend. “I think I did a really good job of that today, getting off to that really slow start and not thinking about that too much.”

With two rounds to play at the Buick LPGA Shanghai, Li sits one stroke off the lead at Qizhong Garden Golf Club following rounds of 65-68. Friday’s effort was a challenging one for Li, whose putter was cold to begin the round. Just as it began to warm up, her driver then left her on the back nine, and she had to rely heavily on her irons and wedge play while hitting shots from the thick rough. But Li’s putter has been critical to her success through 36 holes, as she has needed just 57 putts so far, which is tied for the fifth fewest this week.

“I was hitting it good, but the putts just weren't going in,” Li said about how her game shifted throughout the round. “I wasn't hitting my driver that well today. I got it under control a little bit and hit the fairways I needed to hit. But I hit it good out of the rough. My irons were good, wedges were good and that really saved me.”

Li is in contention for the second consecutive event on the LPGA Tour. She’s coming off her career-best finish, a second-place showing at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G, where she lost in a playoff to Jasmine Suwannapura. The experience of having closed with a final-round 60 to force extra holes was an invaluable lesson for Li, who largely struggled last year in her first season on the LPGA Tour, failing to record a single top-10 finish. Coming into the Buick LPGA Shanghai, the Epson Tour Graduate has recorded three top 10s so far this season.

“My game has been trending in the right direction for a while now,” Li said about her success in Arkansas. “So just having that result be there I think gave me some more belief in myself that I could do well. And also just having less pressure for the season, not having to worry about CME or next year has given me a lot more freedom.”

The weight of having to make a move in the Race to the CME Globe point standings is something that weighs on many of the players competing in the field during the Asia swing who need to pick up points in order to qualify for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship or maintain their status for next season.

But with Li’s runner-up finish in Arkansas, she climbed to No. 32 in the Race and is now well inside the top 60 in the rankings, which is the cutoff point to qualify for the final event of the 2024 LPGA Tour season. It comes as a welcome relief for Li, who also secured her position on Tour for next season after having to return to Final Qualifying at LPGA Q-Series last year to maintain her membership.

“Everyone has their own path, and it's okay to struggle sometimes. Just learning that lesson is really important for me as a professional,” Li said about the struggles she has dealt with during her first two years on Tour. “I felt at peace this year knowing what I was working on and that if I kept doing it, I would get my game back on track. I'm really proud of myself and how I've handled the ups and downs of my career and this year.”

Despite a closing bogey on Friday, which cost her a share of the lead, Li will play in the final group on Saturday in Shanghai. It will be yet another learning experience for the second-year Tour member and a chance to test what Li has been working on so hard this season – staying in the moment.

“My mindset going into tomorrow is the same as it is always,” Li said. “One shot at a time.”

Lucy Li In Hunt Again at Buick LPGA Shanghai

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