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Lucy Li becomes youngest US Women’s Open qualifier with win in California Lucy Li becomes youngest US Women’s Open qualifier with win in California
(about 5 hours later)
Those who are uncomfortable with children being exposed to the harsh realities of top-level sport should look away now. An 11-year-old golfer, Lucy Li, has become the youngest player in history to qualify for the US Women’s Open. The majority of 11-year-olds will not know a thing about the US Women’s Open, let alone be a month away from competing in it. Step forward Lucy Li. In the latest, astonishing tale of a child player emerging in golf, the Californian has qualified for the major at Pinehurst. She has surpassed the tournament record set by Lexi Thompson, who was 12 when part of the 2007 US Open field.
Li will tee up at Pinehurst next month, alongside the top names in women’s golf, after carding rounds of 74 and 68 in a sectional qualifier at Half Moon Bay. Li defeated the field by seven strokes, which would constitute an eye-catching performance by a player regardless of their age. Li carded rounds of 74 and 68 at Half Moon Bay’s Old Course to destroy the field by seven shots. All of those uncomfortable with ones so young being exposed to the harsh environment – and the close scrutiny – of top-level sport may want to avoid Pinehurst. Suddenly, Li has emerged as one of the tournament’s key storylines.
Li’s prominence is not sudden. In April, and immediately before the Masters, the Californian triumphed in her age group section of the inaugural Drive, Chip and Putt Championship at Augusta National. She progressed to the US Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at the age of 10. News of Li’s success will have gone down especially well in one corner of Georgia. She emerged victorious from her age section of the inaugural Drive, Chip and Putt Championship at Augusta, immediately before the Masters in April. Last year, as a 10-year-old, Li qualified for the US Women’s Amateur Public Links.
Lexi Thompson, who won the Kraft Nabisco Championship earlier this year, was previously the joint youngest US Open participant with Morgan Pressel at the age of 12. Now 19, Thompson has won six times in total as a professional. Thompson offers a positive picture of what could happen next. Now ranked No6 in the world, she is only 19 but has already won six professional events, including a major in the form of this year’s Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Guan Tianlang participated in the 2013 Masters at 14, making the cut despite a penalty for slow play. Then, and the same may well transpire with Li, there were fears expressed that someone so young should not be catapulted into such a high-profile environment. Morgan Pressel, who also played in the US Open as a 12-year-old amateur in 2001, is also a major champion, with five professional wins to her name.
“Suddenly, we had the world’s media on our doorstep,” explained Guan’s father, Hanwen. “CBS, ESPN and other television stations sent their reporters to Guangzhou. They followed him to school and back. They all wanted to know more about him.” The more cautionary tale arrives in the form of Michelle Wie, who shot to stardom at the same age as Li. Although Wie is enjoying a decent career on the professional circuit at the age of 24, her achievements have not come anywhere close to matching expectation. There is a legitimate case, in fact, that premature excitement harmed her development. Tiger Woods did not play in a professional event until after his 16th birthday and did not give up his amateur status before he reached 20.
Tiger Woods, after all, did not play in a professional event until he was 16 or lose his amateur status until 20. It can also be reasonably argued that there is an issue over the depth of talent in the women’s game if an 11-year-old can canter to such a comprehensive success as that enjoyed by Li. Although he was three years Li’s senior at the time, there were similar snipes regarding Guan Tianlang’s qualification for the 2013 Masters; the Chinese player answered those critics by making the cut despite suffering a penalty for slow play.
Guan broke the record set by the Italian Matteo Manassero, now 21, as the youngest Masters participant. Manassero made history again 12 months ago, as the youngest winner of the PGA Championship at Wentworth, and will begin his defence on Thursday needing to put pressure on those in Ryder Cup contention.
Manassero insists there would be no heartbreak attached to missing out on joining the European team at Gleneagles in September. “The reason why is because the team are really competitive. So the 12 guys that are going to make that team deserve to be on that team. It’s not something that I will have thrown away.
“It would only be something that I just wasn’t quite good enough to do to be able to get in. The guys are playing so well. I would think it’s an amazing achievement if I would make the Ryder Cup team, because it’s such a hard team to make.”
Jonas Blixt has a stronger case than Manassero, having finished in a tie for second at the Masters. The 30-year-old also recorded a top-five finish at last year’s US PGA Championship.
Blixt hopes to have a discussion with Europe’s captain, Paul McGinley, in the coming days. “We were supposed to meet at The Players Championship but we never got a chance to do it there,” he said.
“Hopefully I get to meet him this week. When I have spoken to him, he seems like a great captain and a great guy. I would love to play for him.”