Lucy Li, just 11 years old and still in sixth grade, teed off for her opening round at the U.S. Women's Open earlier this morning. Li is the youngest golfer to ever qualify for the tournament, and she is also cute as hell.
Above is footage from Li's pre-tournament press conference, during which she affably engaged with reporters and was about as charming as an 11-year-old girl can be. "Is there anything about this week that makes you nervous?" "Ehhhhh, not really."
Li qualified for the Open by winning a sectional qualifier in California, and despite 5-foot-1 and weighing less than 100 lbs., she can hit her driver 230 yards. "It goes farther in tournaments where there's adrenaline," she told USA Today.
Li probably isn't going to make the cut—she was +7 for today's opening round—but she doesn't seem to be taking the tournament or any thoughts about turning pro too seriously. From USA Today:
"I just want to go out there and have fun and play the best I can and I really don't care about the outcome, it's just I want to have fun and learn. I can learn a lot from these great players. … I haven't really thought about (being a pro). Right now it's just play as well as I can and the game's going to take me wherever it's going to take me, so I just really don't care that much."
Also, she played today's round in a very rad and patriotic outfit:
Lucy Li seems like a pretty cool 11-year-old.
Update:
She addressed the press after her round while eating a popsicle!