There’s often young prodigies that crop up and stun the sporting world and that’s seems particularly the case in women’s golf, with some incredibly young golfers having made it into the US Women’s Open over the years.
Trailblazers such as Michelle Wie West and Lexi Thompson all set records at one stage, well plenty will remember Lucy Li qualifying for the US Women’s Open aged just 11 back in 2014.
That makes Li the youngest player ever to qualify for the tournament, but incredibly she’s not the youngest to ever play in the US Women’s Open.
That honour lies with Beverley Klaas, who played in the 1967 US Women’s Open at the tender age of just 10!
The Beverley Klass story is a remarkable one as the golf phenomenon actually played on the LPGA Tour when aged just eight!
The LPGA then changed its rules to prevent someone so young playing, and Klass later joined the tour in 1976. She did not manage to win, with her best results being two runner-up finishes in the 1984 season. Her best finish in a Major was tied 5th.
But Klass does have the record for the youngest player ever to compete in the US Women’s Open, and one that will surely never be beaten – although a nine-year-old named Bella Simoes did try to qualify last year!
And that does not in any way reduce the achievements of the likes of Li, Thompson or Wie West in qualifying for the US Women’s Open at such a young age.
Beverley Klass played in the US Women’s Open aged just 10
(Image credit: Getty Images)
It doesn’t always translate into an instantly successful LPGA Tour career though – as while Wie West and Thompson have gone on to win Majors, Li’s career has not yet taken off.
Li is still only 21, so let’s not get carried away, and she has obvious talent – playing in the Junior Ryder Cup and Junior Solheim Cup twice, and Curtis Cup once – winning all five.
Turning pro in 2019 aged 17, Li has won twice on the Epson Tour and has only just started playing full-time on the LPGA Tour, playing 21 times in 2023, making 13 cuts and having her best showings in the Majors
It’s 10 years since Li not only qualified for the US Women’s open, but did so in style by winning her qualifying tournament aged just 11 – and now just 21 could still have great things ahead of her.
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