A young Victoria golfer’s textbook chipping at the Masters’ Drive, Chip and Putt challenge on Sunday caught the eye of one the game’s short-game specialists, five-time major champion Phil Mickelson.
It was that technique that helped Anna Wu finish second in the competition’s girls aged seven to nine division.
Wu, whose home course is the Royal Colwood Golf Club, won the chipping contest at the Augusta, Ga. course on April 4 and finished with an overall score of 21.
The Masters’ Drive, Chip and Putt challenge brings in the best seven-to-15-year-old golfers and splits them into four age groups, with 10 in each division. As its name notes, the challenge is split in to three core-gold skills contests: driving, chipping and putting. The golfers are given a score of one to 10 depending on where they finish after hitting three shots in each skills contest.
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For Wu, who started golfing at the age of six, it was holing out her shot during the chipping contest that swung her the 10-point top spot. After her fluorescent-pink golf ball rolled into the centre of the cup with perfect pace, Wu’s swing set-up earned her the famed-lefty golfer’s approval.
“Watched Anna Wu hole a chip in the DCP contest,” Mickelson tweeted. “Look how her hands are way ahead which keeps the leading edge down. Brilliant!”
A pleasant surprise from Anna Wu with a chip in! 🤩#DriveChipandPutt pic.twitter.com/QyUhqD5z0x
— Drive, Chip & Putt (@DriveChipPutt) April 4, 2021
Watched Anna Wu hole a chip in the DCP contest. Look how her hands are way ahead which keeps the leading edge down. Brilliant!
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) April 4, 2021
Mickelson wasn’t the only left-handed pro with a Green Jacket to congratulate Wu, as the chip also scored her a fist bump from two-time Masters champ, Bubba Watson. The young golfer’s performance also garnered some love from her home course, as the Royal Colwood Golf Club said they were “so proud” of her second place finish.
Respect. 🤜💥🤛 @bubbawatson #DriveChipandPutt pic.twitter.com/ULaXF3dpsl
— Drive, Chip & Putt (@DriveChipPutt) April 4, 2021
It’s been an 18-month wait for Wu and the other Drive, Chip and Putt competitors before their spikes touched the grass at the Augusta National Golf Club. All the golfers had to win their way up through three levels of qualifying tournaments before they booked their tickets to the national finals. After all the golfers secured their spots at regional tournaments in the fall of 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020 national contest.
Wu finished just two points behind the champion and only other Canadian in the girls seven to nine year-old division, Cambridge, Ontario’s Alexis Card.
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