Photo: Paul Childs/(c) Action Images

World, it’s time to get ready for Mu Hu. The 17-year-old phenom from Shenzhen, China, first picked up a club at age 7 and almost immediately began tearing up the junior golf ranks. When he was 11, Mu won the 15- to 18-year-old division at the 2001 China Junior Golf Open. At 15, he won three times on the U.S. junior circuit and played in a few events on the Asian Tour, highlighted by an 11th-place finish in the Sanya Open. Now, he’s mixing in European Tour events that include some of the top pro’s from the PGA Tour.

The young man the Chinese golf establishment calls “The Kid” is rising faster than Google stock.

Mu now resides in Florida full time and has had an active 2006 season, competing in more than 10 events around the world. But the most memorable moment occurred away from the links. During a November trip to China for the star-studded HSBC Champions tournament, Mu got the chance to meet his role model, Tiger Woods, when he played, of all things, table tennis alongside the 12-time major title winner.

“It was a photo shoot, but we did play a real match to five points,” Mu says. “It was me and Tiger versus Paul Casey and David Howell. We beat them 5-1. I was a little nervous before we started, but Tiger was real nice. He was competitive. He wanted to do singles, but we didn’t have time.”

Woods was whisked away before Mu could pick his brain for a few golf tips. “I wanted to ask him about staying focused on the course and maintaining a high level of performance throughout the year,” Mu says.

That conversation will have to wait until their next meeting. Meanwhile, Mu has plans for a busy winter. He’ll be competing in several junior golf events as well as in the Asian Games, all while getting ready for his senior year of high school. Mu has a head start on one big life decision that often haunts 18 year olds: where to go to college. He’s narrowed it down to University of Florida and Stanford—two American schools with top-tier golf and academic programs.

To prepare for his next phase of his young career, Mu employs a swing coach, David Leadbetter, who has tutored many of today’s top players, including another Asian teenager who’s pretty popular these days: Michelle Wie. (Ironically, Mu happens to be just two days older than Wie.) Mu says he and Wie occasionally hit the range together but have yet to tee it up head-to-head in a practice round...

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