Lucy Li Facts: 20 Things You Didn't Know About The LPGA Tour Pro
LPGA Tour pro Lucy Li was a child prodigy and has continued her progression since turning pro - here are 20 things you may not know about her
Lucy Li's golf ability has been making people sit up and take notice since she was at a young age.
As a child prodigy, records fell thick and fast for the American, and she has continued her impressive career trajectory since turning professional in 2017.
Here are 20 things you may not be familiar about her.
Lucy Li Facts
1. Lucy Li was born on 1 October 2002 in Stanford, California.
2. She took up the game at the age of four or five and eventually began living with her aunt for four months of the year to be close to the Jim McLean Golf School in Florida.
3. In her early years, Li also took diving lessons, while she also enjoyed gymnastics and music before golf took priority.
4. In 2013, at the age of 10 years, eight months and 16 days, Li beat the record of Michelle Wie-West as the youngest match-play qualifier in US Women's Amateur Public Links history.
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5. Two months later, she broke the record as the youngest to qualify for the US Women’s Amateur.
6. Li played in the first-ever Masters Drive, Chip, and Putt Championship in 2014, winning the Girls 10-11 category.
7. Li made even more headlines in 2014 when, aged 11, she became the youngest player to qualify for the US Women’s Open – although Beverley Klass remains the youngest to compete in the Major, having done so nine years before qualifying was introduced.
8. At the start of the tournament, she was aged 11 years, 8 months, and 19 days. She hit two rounds of 78 to miss the cut by seven shots.
9. In August 2016, she won the Junior PGA Championship and followed that up as a member of the winning Junior Ryder Cup later that year. She helped the team to victory again at the match in 2018.
10. She was the only amateur to make the cut the 2017 ANA Inspiration to give her low amateur honors.
11. She also helped the US claim victory in the 2017 and 2019 editions of the Junior Solheim Cup.
12. Li was the youngest player in the field at the 2018 US Women’s Open and finished T55.
13. She won the mixed team silver medal alongside future PGA Tour pro Akshay Bhatia at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics.
14. She was part of the 2018 US Curtis Cup team that won the match by the largest margin in its history – 17-3.
15. An appearance in a 2019 Apple Watch advertisement caused controversy when Li was investigated by the USGA to determine whether it had violated her amateur status. She was given a warning but no further action was taken.
16. Li turned professional later that year at the age of 17 and played on the Symetra Tour (now the Epson Tour) between 2020 and 2022.
17. Her first Major appearance as a professional came at the 2021 US Women’s Open, where she finished T16 – her best Major performance so far.
18. She collected her first two professional titles in 2022 on the Epson Tour’s Carolina Golf Classic and Twin Bridges Championship.
19. Li’s first LPGA Tour appearances came later that year, initially on sponsor exemptions. She finished third on the Epson Tour money list to earn LPGA membership for 2023, and then regained her status for the 2024 season via LPGA Q-Series.
20. In a 2023 interview with Golf Digest, she revealed that an ambition of hers is to represent the US at the Solheim Cup.
Lucy Li Bio
Full Name | Lucy Li |
Born | 1 October 2002 - Stanford, California |
Height | 1.57m (5ft 1in) |
Turned Professional | 2017 |
Former Tour | Epson Tour |
Current Tour | LPGA Tour |
Professional Wins | 2 |
Best Finish in A Major | T16 (2021 US Women's Open) |
Lucy Li Career Wins
Tour | Event | Winning Score |
---|---|---|
Epson Tour | 2022 Carolina Golf Classic | -19 (Playoff) |
Epson Tour | 2022 Twin Bridges Championship | -10 (4 shots) |
Lucy Li Career Earnings
Year | Tour | Prize Money |
---|---|---|
2020 | Epson Tour | $39,556 |
2021 | Epson Tour | $25,156 |
2022 | Epson Tour | $110,111 |
2023 | LPGA Tour | $177,024 |
Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories.
He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game.
Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course.
Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.
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