Hong Kong‘s Jason Hak Shun-yat missed out on a medal at his third China National Games after late drama in a rain delayed final round of the men’s individual golf tournament in Xian.

The 27-year-old shot a fine three-under par final 18, including an eagle on the par-four 11th, to finish 15-under for the week at the Xian Qinling International Golf Course where inclement weather saw the golfers held back for almost three hours.

It was a damp ending to the week at the feet of Shaanxi’s Qinling Mountains after Hak had a share for second following Tuesday’s opening round and a share of the bronze going into the final day.

However, the Hongkonger left himself too much to do to make up ground on those ahead of him going into Friday’s fourth and final round with his 15-under par not quite enough to trouble the podium in the end.

Hong Kong's Jason Hak Shun-yat winning the CGD Yunnan Championship in Kunming.

Hak was disappointed to miss out on a second medal after winning team silver at the 2013 National Games in Shenyang in the men’s team event.

“The biggest challenge is the weather,” he said. “The course is very wet and I made some mistakes on the final day. I could not do my best and I am a bit disappointed but the National Games is a good experience. I hope I can help my teammates and play together next time.”

The next National Games in 2025 will be held in Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong and join hosts Hong Kong will hope to have more than one male and one female golfer.

Hong Kong Golf Association chief Danny Lai Yee-june agreed that the weather was a factor in Hak missing out but so was the calibre of opponent.

“The weather made it difficult for Jason to make up too much ground but look at the quality of those in front of him – they play on the PGA Tour and at the Olympics,” he said. While Wu and Yuan played for China at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Hak has spent his last year playing in China because of the pandemic.

Hainan’s Yuan Yechun – also known as Carl Yuan in the US where he plays on the Korn Ferry Tour – finished at the top of it with a China National Games gold medal around his neck.

He finished on 19-under ahead of Guangdong’s Li Haotong on 18-under and Shanghai’s Wu Ashun on 17-under.

Wu and Yuan led on 15-under going into the day, the pair tied for the lead, with Hak and Li Haotong of Guangdong both tied on 12-under.

The leaders spent a lot of time out front together, sharing the lead at 17-under, before late drama saw a huge shift in fortunes.

Yuan may have ended as the gold medal winner but it was Li that was the player of the day, firing himself into a silver medal.

Li first shore himself free of Hak before lining up the leaders in his sights, though there was plenty of drama to come within the final handful of holes.

Li Haotong Li of China plays his shot from the 14th tee during the second round of the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California.

At one point Hak looked to have edged back into medal contention, as he had done with a late flurry of birdies on Thursday to start Friday with a share of the bronze medal spot, but it was not to be.

Hak had moved within a shot of Li with three left to play but Li birdied to move two clear as went to his final two holes. The Hongkonger then closed the gap to one once more with the top four within four strokes of one another.

Wu then dropped a stroke to go level with Li with two holes still to play before Li overtook him for silver but kept himself clear of Hak.

Neither Yunnan’s He Ziming who started the day in fifth on 11-under nor Tianjin’s Ding Wenyi, who was on eight-under after Thursday, could reel Hak in.

In the women’s individual event Guangdong’s Lin Xiyu romped to the gold medal with an overall score of 16-under, well clear of Ren Yue of Yunnan at nine-under and her teammate Liu Yu a shot back.

Hong Kong’s Sophie Han Zilin outperformed Chinese No 1 Feng Shanshan by finishing tied for 10th overall on one-under par for the week.

Carl Yuan Yechun of China plays his shot from the second tee during the 2021 Visit Knoxville Open at Holston Hills Country Club in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Former world No 1 Feng finished on even par at 15th but needed a three-under final round to do so, while Han’s feat is all the more impressive as the 14-year-old was the youngest golfer in Xian.

Liu, Lin and Feng helped Guangdong to women’s team gold along with Zhang Weiwei, finishing well clear of Shaanxi and Tianjin. The men’s team event was won by Shaanxi ahead of Guangdong and Tianjin.