Anyone remember what world records they were breaking when they were 11? Easy question for most of us, because the answer would be none! But not so for one 6th grader from Redwood Shores in California.
Lucy Li has just become the youngest woman ever to qualify for the US Women’ Open Championship. The 11-year-old Li shot rounds of 74 and 68 on the par-72 Old Course on Monday and will surpass Lexi Thompson as the youngest competitor in a U.S. Women’s Open when she tees off on June 19 at the Pinehurst golf course in North Carolina.
She surpasses the record previously held by young golfer Lexi Thompson who was 12 when she qualified for the 2007 Open.
This isn’t her first record, however. Last summer, at age 10, she became the youngest player ever to advance to the USGA Women’s Amateur. In May 2013, she became the second-youngest player in the history of the Women’s Amateur Public Links; then, in June, she became the youngest player ever to advance to match play at that tournament.
Lucy already has a big win on her resume, capturing the girls 10-11 division at the inaugural Drive, Chip and Putt contest at Augusta that preceded the Masters this year.
She will not be the youngest player to participate in the U.S. Women’s Open, however. Beverly Klass was just 10 when she competed in the event in 1967, prior to the qualification process.Li was one of those to make it from the United States Golf Association’s first international qualifying events, which took place in America, England, China, Japan and Korea. This makes her record even more incredible considering the wide pool she was competing against.
Today Lucy Li, 11, broke @Lexi‘s record as youngest #USWomensOpen qualifier. She would be the 2nd youngest to compete in the championship.
— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) May 20, 2014
Just to put Lucy’s qualification into perspective, she won’t turn 12 until October (after the tournament), Tiger Woods won’t be at the US Open Men’s Championship because he didn’t qualify (which also takes place at Pinehurst a few days after the women’s) and she was born AFTER the first Harry Potter movie was released. Whoa!
Who says age is a barrier to achievement? Clearly not Lucy Li! This young dynamo is proving that if you set your mind and focus to anything, you will achieve and conquer it. Here’s hoping she grows up with the right type of guidance and stability, and not be taken advantage of in any way.
We know what we’ll we doing come June 19, watching the women’s US Open golf for the very first time. Thanks to Lucy Li, the sport of golf now has a whole new generation of fans!
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