At age 11, Lucy Li joins a wave of prodigies teeing off against the best

Lucy Li has become the youngest player to qualify for the US Women's Open by winning the sectional qualifier at Half Moon Bay in California.

The 11-year-old Li shot rounds of 74-68 on the par-72 Old Course on Monday to surpass Lexi Thompson as the youngest qualifier in the US Women's Open, which runs from June 19-22 at Pinehurst. Thompson was 12 at the 2007 Open.

Li, of Redwood Shores, California, already has a big win on her resume after capturing the girls 10-11 division at the inaugural Drive, Chip and Putt contest at Augusta that preceded the Masters this year. She beat second-place qualifier Kathleen Scavo by seven strokes at Half Moon Bay.

Judy Rankin was a 14-year-old prodigy from Missouri when she entered the 1959 US Women's Open at Churchill Valley Country Club in Pittsburgh.

"When I went to register, they asked me if I was registering for my mother," Rankin said on Tuesday.

"I remember the first tee was way up high. I was shaking; I was so scared, so nervous. I thought I could fall off. I didn't even make the cut. I was probably ill-prepared to be playing ... but the next year, I was low amateur."

Teenagers in the US Women's Open are nothing new.

Morgan Pressel, who went on to become the youngest major champion in LPGA Tour history at 18, qualified for the Open in 2001 when she was 12. Michelle Wie was 12 when she qualified for her first LPGA Tour event, and she was in the final group at a major when she was 13.

Lydia Ko was 15 when she won the Canadian Women's Open two years ago, making her the youngest winner in LPGA history. Now she is in range of becoming No 1 in the world.

On the men's side, Matteo Manassero won twice on the European Tour before he had his driver's license. Ryo Ishikawa won his first professional tournament when he was 15.

Jordan Spieth nearly won the Masters last month at age 20. And who can forget Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old from China who made the cut at the Masters last year?

Even so, two numbers are enough to get anyone's attention - "11" and "sixth grade".

"This is ridiculous," tour veteran Dottie Pepper said on Tuesday, more amazed than concerned. Earlier in the day, Pepper was on Twitter and tried to get her head around an 11-year-old teeing it up at Pinehurst when she noted that Li's date of birth was "This century! Whoa!"

Rankin and Pepper both attributed the increasing achievements by teens - pre-teens in Li's case - to modern equipment and coaching.

Li began playing when she was seven by whacking a few golf balls on the range while waiting for her brother and cousin to finish a golf tournament. She now works with Jim McLean.

This is not the first time Li has written herself into USGA history. Last year she set a record in the US Women's Amateur as the youngest qualifier at age 10, and she was the youngest in the US Women's Amateur Public Links to reach match play.

"For people with talent, regardless of age, today's equipment is making the game a lot easier to learn," Rankin said.

Rankin also points to the very best in golf being on television so often, and the fact that children copy what they see.

"No one in the world is better at mimicking than children," Rankin said.

"I can go way back to a friend of mine from US Amateur days, Helen Sigel Wilson. She always said the way to teach a kid how to play good golf is only let them see great players."

Lucy Li putts on the 10th hole at the US Women's Public Links event last June in Oklahoma. Joel Kowsky / USGA File / AP

(China Daily 05/22/2014 page24)