Lucy Li, 11, becomes youngest U.S. Women's Open qualifier
May 20, 2014
Golfing prodigies just keep getting younger.
The latest name to wow the sport is 11-year-old Lucy Li, who made her own slice of history on Monday.
She is officially the
youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open after securing her
place at an event in her native California.
Li, from Redwood Shores,
shot rounds of 74 and 68 at Half Moon Bay Golf Club to beat the field by
seven shots and book her place at Pinehurst next month.
She beats the previous mark held by fellow American Lexi Thompson, who qualified for the 2007 installment aged 12.
But Li won't be the
youngest to compete at the tournament -- that honor is still held by
Beverley Klass, who competed in 1967 aged just 10 without having to
qualify.
Li already has a victory
at the world famous Augusta National under her belt, having won the
inaugural Drive, Chip and Putt Championship at the Masters venue in
April.
Now she'll be heading to
Pinehurst as the third major event of the women's season follows on
directly after the men's tournament at the same venue on June 17 for the
first time in its history.
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.
All of the 17 women to
qualify will be making their first appearance at the U.S. Open, with
another raft of events running right through until the end of May.
At The Buckinghamshire
course just outside London, England, 20-year-old Amy Boulden from Wales
qualified first just weeks after her first professional win.
"I'm very happy. I played very well today, so I'm very pleased," said Boulden, who was one of eight players to make the cut.
"I knew there were a lot of good players, but I still felt quite confident.
"I've grown up playing
with a lot of the girls playing, so I just tried to play my own game and
I knew that if you were under par you were probably going to qualify
here.
"It's one of the biggest
majors, so I'm looking forward to going to the States and playing
against the best players in the world."
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