She is the youngest player ever to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open, but that distinction doesn’t phase 11-year-old golf phenom Lucy Li.
“I like crowds. They don't bother me. I play better the more people that come watch me,” the sixth-grader said at a recent news conference.
Don’t let the braces or the multiple colorful pigtails fool you. There’s a reason why Li has become the talk of the tournament, where she tees off Thursday in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Li has spent nearly half her young life preparing for this moment. Since age 6, she has split her time between her home in California’s Bay Area and a golf school in Florida.
“I like golf because it's different from other sports,” she said. “Anybody can play it, if you're tall, short, fast or slow, that's what I like about it.”
But Stacy Lewis, the top-ranked women's player in the world, has expressed concern about someone so young competing at such a high-level event.
“I just like to see kids learn how to win before they come get beat up out here,” she told USA Today. “When I found out she qualified, I said, 'Well, where does she go from here?' … If it was my kid, I wouldn't let her play in the U.S. Open qualifier at 11.”
But Michelle Wie, who turned pro at 16 and described Li as “so darn cute,” is a big fan. She even offered the youngster some advice.
“Go out there, try to learn as much as you can,” she said. “Go up to any pro, we're not scary, we won't bite. Just ask us anything."
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