Lucy Li

Lucy Li (born October 1, 2002) is an American professional golfer. She holds records as the youngest qualifier for the U.S. Women's Amateur and the U.S. Women's Open, at 11, in 2014. She is the second-youngest qualifier for the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links, and the youngest ever to advance to match play in that event. Li was an age group winner at the inaugural Masters Drive, Chip, and Putt Championship in Augusta, Georgia. As of 2014, she was a student of Jim McLean.

Early life In 2002, Li was born in Stanford, California. Her father, Warren Li, is a San Francisco Bay Area computer consultant and stockbroker. Her mother, Amy Zeng, is a former Hewlett-Packard employee.

Li took diving lessons at Stanford University and was platform diving from at age 4. Then, McLean began working with her. She performed some of her schoolwork through independent study in the months she is in Florida. In May 2025, Li graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a 4.0 GPA and summa cum laude honors while playing full time. who qualified in 2008. surpassing Latanna Stone's 2012 record age of 10 years, 11 months and 2 days by beginning the first day of the tournament at age 10 years, 10 months and 4 days old on August 5, 2013.

In 2014, at the first ever Drive, Chip and Putt Championship on the Sunday preceding the 78th edition Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, she won the Girls 10–11 age division. The event was televised on the Golf Channel and was sponsored by the United States Golf Association, Professional Golfers' Association of America and Augusta National to increase youth participation in the sport. Over 10,000 youth from over 110 sites participated in a qualification process that yielded 88 qualifiers from 8 age/gender brackets from each of 11 regions.

On May 19, 2014, she became the youngest (age 11) to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open, surpassing Thompson's record (12 years, 4 months, 18 days) from the 2007 Open. Notably, Li not only qualified, but she won her qualifying event by seven strokes at Old Course at Half Moon Bay Golf Links. nine years prior to the introduction of qualification in 1976, Li, who had reached a 1.5 handicap by April, Edel Golf designed custom clubs that Golf Digest described as "blinged-out" for Li to use in the Open. In the first round on Thursday, Li shot a 78 (+8), which had been the highest score that anyone who made the cut in the 2013 Open had tallied. She followed that up with a second 78 on Friday for 156 (+16) and missed the cut by seven strokes. She then walked the course as a fan that Sunday. She scheduled an appearance in the July U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links in DuPont, Washington next. Li shot 74 and 70 to qualify for match play where she lost to Alice Chen in sudden-death of the first round after posting a stroke play equivalent of a 71. She did not schedule any other USGA events in 2014, deciding instead to play local events and be an 11-year-old. In 2015, she did not qualify for the 2015 U.S. Women's Open.

In August 2016, Li won the Junior PGA Championship. The following month, she was on the winning team for the 2016 Junior Ryder Cup.

She earned low amateur honors at the 2017 ANA Inspiration by being the only amateur to make the cut. She was named to the Junior Solheim Cup team for the United States, who won 14.5–9.5. In October she won The PING Invitational, and she won her next event, Rolex Tournament of Champions, in November.

On May 14 at the Contra Costa Country Club, Pleasant Hill, California, Li qualified for the 2018 U.S. Women's Open, where she was again the youngest player in the field. She was one of seven amateurs to make the cut, and she finished tied for 55th with a 299 (+11). Li was selected to represent the USA in the June 8–10, 2018 Curtis Cup. The United States won by the widest margin in the history of the event (17–3) and Li won her singles match against India Clyburn 5 and 4. At the 2018 U.S. Women's Amateur, Li was co-medalist and earned the number one seed for the match play portion of the event. She lost in the quarter-finals to eventual champion Kristen Gillman on the 19 hole. She contributed to the 2018 Junior Ryder Cup victory.

At the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics, Li teamed with Akshay Bhatia to win the mixed team silver medal.

In 2019, the USGA investigated Li's amateur status after she appeared in an Apple Watch advertisement. Rule 6:2 states: "even if no payment or compensation is received, an amateur golfer is deemed to receive a personal benefit by promoting, advertising or selling anything, or allowing his name or likeness to be used by a third party for the promotion, advertisement or sale of anything. A person who acts contrary to the rules may forfeit his amateur status and as a result will be ineligible to play in amateur competitions." She was given a warning but maintained her amateur status.

Li was named to the 2019 Junior Solheim Cup team.

Professional career In 2019, Li turned professional in when she was 17 years old. She had status on the Symetra Tour in 2020 through 2022. She picked up her second win a month later at the Twin Bridges Championship in Albany, New York.

Li was the first Epson Tour player in 2022 to qualify for LPGA Tour who was then granted two consecutive LPGA sponsor exemptions in August. By finishing in the top-10 at the second event (CP Women's Open), she automatically qualified for her third consecutive LPGA tournament, the Dana Open. Li was the leader after the second and third rounds, and was paired with Lexi Thompson, another former child prodigy, in the final grouping. After finishing fourth place, Li qualified for the Kroger Queen City Championship, her fourth straight LPGA tournament. Li then had to wait seven months to play in her next competitive professional event. Her second start as a full-time LPGA member occurred in April 2023 when she finished 18th at the DIO Implant LA Open. She finished the year outside the top 100 on the money list but performed well at Q-school (T-17) raising her LPGA ranking status for 2024.

Li captured her first LPGA top-10, as a member, on January 28, 2024, in her first event of the season with a fourth place finish at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Bradenton Country Club in Bradenton, Florida. On May 1, 2024, Li qualified for the U.S. Women's Open by shooting a pair of 67s. On September 29, 2024, Li carded a rare 60 and finished second in a playoff at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. This final Sunday round included three eagles. Since 1979, three eagles in one round has only been achieved six times. To date, this 2nd place finish has been Li's best LPGA result. The following week, Li finished T12 at the Buick LPGA Shanghai in China, notably the homeland of her parents.

Amateur wins 2016 Junior PGA Championship 2017 The PING Invitational, Rolex Tournament of Champions

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Professional wins (2) Epson Tour wins (2)

Results in LPGA majors Results not in chronological order.

CUT = missed the half-way cut NT = no tournament T = tied

Summary Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (2025 Chevron – 2025 Evian)

LPGA Tour career summary

^ Official as of 2025 season Includes matchplay and other tournaments without a cut

World ranking Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

Year Worldranking Source 2017 845 2018 678 2019 993 2020 557 2021 279 2022 139 2023 185 2024 79 2025 96

U.S. national team appearances Amateur Junior Ryder Cup: 2016 (winners), 2018 (winners) Junior Solheim Cup: 2017 (winners), 2019 (winners) Curtis Cup: 2018 (winners) Summer Youth Olympics Mixed team event: 2018

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