Redwood City’s Lucy Li, 15, plots course for golf success

Lucy Li is a golf phenom because she hits the ball pure and straight more reliably than just about any 15-year-old. She qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open at 11, returned to the Open this year and went unbeaten in the Curtis Cup.

And maybe Li will blossom into more than a phenom because she actively seeks counsel from some of the game’s greatest players ever.

Li, who lives in Redwood City, counts as one of the favorites in this week’s U.S. Girls Junior Championship starting Monday at Poppy Hills. But to convey her evolution the past four years, how she has grown as a person and player since she improbably advanced to America’s national championship in 2014, we begin with her choice of mentors.