She might have pigtails and braces but neither is stopping 11-year-old Lucy Li from doing her very best as she competes in The Women’s US Open golf tournament.
Dressed in a stars-and-stripes matching T-shirt and ra-ra skirt, the amateur got round the Pinehurst course in 78, which is only 11 shots behind the current leader, Stacy Lewis.
‘Getting to play in the US Open was a lot of fun. I kind of struggled today, but it was great. I’m happy with how I played,’ she said in her post-game interview as she ate an ice cream.
The Californian, whose family is originally from Hong Kong, then got into the nitty gritty details of her game. Although she’s in the second half of the leaderboard, that’s no mean feat, and she managed to get birdies on two of the holes (meaning that she got the ball in the hole in one shot under par or, in other words, what’s generally expected from a typical player in the tournament).
It's a good thing that, athough she understands the scores a lot more than us, she doesn’t set out to get results. When asked if she was expecting to get those two birdies, she replied: ‘I didn’t really care’. And then when asked why she chose her outfit, she laughed and said: ‘Because it’s the US Open!’
She’s also got the support of her – much older – peers. Former US Champion Laura Davies told GolfWeek: “Look, if you're good enough, you're old enough. Or young enough. Whichever way you look at it. If you can play the golf and you can qualify, then have a go. What's the worst that can happen? She shoots a million this week and everyone says, wasn't it great she was here?’
Well done to Lucy! If she can make it to the US Open aged 11, we can certainly channel all of our age-envy into admiration...
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.