Anna Wu鈥檚 dream was to meet Tiger Woods at Augusta. With Woods sidelined, she didn鈥檛 get a chance to do that. But that didn鈥檛 stop the pint-size Royal Colwood golfer from receiving some jumbo-size praise from other big-time players Sunday in Georgia.
鈥淲atched Anna Wu hole a chip in the DCP [Drive, Chip and Putt] Contest,鈥� tweeted three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson.
鈥淟ook how her hands are way ahead, which keeps the leading edge down. Brilliant!鈥�
Wu also received a fist-bump from two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson after sinking the chip during her run to a second-place finish in the Drivem Chip and Putt championship girls鈥� seven-to-nine-years-old category behind fellow-Canadian Alexis Card from Cambridge, Ont.
Card had a combined 23 points to Wu鈥檚 21. They were among three Canadians in the 80-player field in the sixth annual Drive, Chip and Putt championship. Wu qualified in 2019 at Chambers Bay in Washington state. But when the 2020 Masters was postponed to the fall due to the pandemic, the DCP championship was moved to this year鈥檚 Masters week in Augusta. It proved worth the wait for Wu, who has driven the ball more than 180 yards off the tee. Not that it has come easy. It never does. Wu has golfed on average five days a week at Royal Colwood since the family moved to the Island three years ago from Tianjin, China.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very hard to learn this sport,鈥� said Wu, after she qualified. 鈥淚 want to play pro. But I know it鈥檚 not easy.鈥�
Wu is coached by her grandfather, Frank Zhang, of Victoria.
鈥淵ou get to see wonderful things on a golf course and learn lots of things,鈥� said Wu.
Wu is the latest youthful Island golf prodigy. Jeevan Sihota of Victoria was only six when he began winning championships and the now 16-year-old has been part of the Golf sa国际传媒 centralized national team program on Bear Mountain and has a promising future as he looks to the NCAA and pro. Gordy Scutt of Victoria also made headlines at a very young age as age-group world champion before becoming Canadian junior champion and playing in the NCAA as captain of the University of Washington Huskies and as a pro on the Canadian Tour.
