CNN
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After I was 19 years previous south korean prodigy Inbee Park lifted the primary of her seven main championships on the 2008 US Girls’s Open, changing into the event’s youngest champion.
Bella Simões wouldn’t be born for an additional six years. On Tuesday, he tried to qualify for the larger.
At 9, the Brazilian is the youngest participant to try to qualify for the event, which is able to start in July at California’s acclaimed Pebble Seashore course for the primary time in its 78-year historical past.
Simões hit the primary shot of his qualifying group at The Membership at Mediterra in Naples, Florida. A flawless swing method, posted on the USGA’s Twitter account, drew a whole lot of applause.
Nevertheless, that ought to come as no shock given Simões’ already spectacular resume. The U.S. Junior Golf World Champion within the U7 class in 2020, she defended her title a yr later earlier than claiming one other victory within the eight-year competitors in 2022.
It is a junior event with pedigree: world quantity 7 and 2014 Chevron Championship winner Lexi Thompson was a two-time champion earlier than changing into one of many sport’s elite gamers.
Thompson turned the youngest golfer to qualify for the US Girls’s Open when, at age 12, she reached the 2007 version of the most important.
The best prodigies of golf
Simões nonetheless has a number of makes an attempt left to usurp that title, however should wait at the least one other yr after ending tied-59th within the 67-player subject. The Brazilian shot 23 over par as two gamers, Lindy Duncan and Brooke Matthews, earned computerized qualification with scores of 10 and eight, respectively.
The USGA introduced a file variety of entries for the July Championship, with 2,107 candidates from 47 US states and 62 nations, surpassing the earlier file of 1,874 set final yr when Minjee Lee went on to get the win at Pine Needles.
Gamers should have a handicap ranking of two.4 or much less or be an expert to try qualification. A number of teams are exempt and obtain an computerized invite, together with the final 10 champions and the highest 75 gamers on this planet rating.
Kimberly Williams, a 60-year-old skilled from Bethesda, Maryland, was the oldest participant to try qualification this yr, in keeping with the USGA.
