THE MASTERS | THE AMATEUR
One of a Kind
The play of Guan Tian-lang, the Chinese 14-year-old amateur, at The Masters was truly sensational, but here's hoping he follows the advice of his mentors and focuses on his long term goals, writes Alex Jenkins.
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his was one instance that I was delighted to be wrong.
AFP
Three weeks before The Masters got underway, I interviewed Guan Tian-lang at Mission Hills, across the border in Shenzhen, where he received a special achievement award from Sir Nick Faldo. Guan had, the previous year, claimed low Chinese honours at the Englishman's highly rated Faldo Series Asia Grand Final and, alongside six-time major champion, was happy to be interviewed by an ensemble of local press. While there was no doubting Guan's amateur credentials – he had won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship to earn her berth at Augusta – there was a strong feeling that his place among the world's elite was little more than ceremonial – and thus inconsequential. Most, myself included, figured this 14-year-old would fail to get anywhere near the cut-line; if he could somehow break 80 over the two rounds that would represent something of an achievement. This wasn't necessarily journalists being mean spirited. History – and the stats –were truly weighted against him. Just by turning up he was going to be the youngest player ever to tee it up at Augusta – beating Matteo Manassero's record by nearly two years – but, more importantly, he averaged a mere 250 yards off the tee. While that may be long enough to handle the courses that are set up for amateur events, there's no way in hell a kid can take that lack of firepower and expect to fare 34
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Was this the most unexpected performance in Masters history? Some queried his appearance in the elite field but the Guangzhou-based Guan impressed everyone bar the timekeepers at Augusta well over the historic Alistair McKenzie course that hosts the first major of the year. No way. It simply doesn't happen. Ha! What everyone – again, myself included – didn't acknowledge were the twin facets that propelled Guan into the global golfing limelight: his gritty determination and his awe-inspiringly stupendous short game. Guangzhou-born Guan, as we all know now, became a star with a performance that still to this day beggars belief. He proved everyone – apart from himself – wrong. He finished the week without a double bogey, and never had a three-putt. With a 75 on Sunday, he finished the tournament at 12-over 300 – maybe not a threat to the leaders, but a score that earned him the lowest scoring amateur prize, HK Golfer・MAY 2013
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He finished the week without a double bogey, and never had a three-putt. With a 75 on Sunday, he finished the tournament at 12over 300 – maybe not a threat to the leaders, but a score that earned him the lowest scoring amateur prize, and more importantly, the respect of millions of golf fans across the world.
AFP
Because of his relative lack of distance off the tee, Guan used his driver more than anyone else in the field, here at the 18th; Guan was the only amateur to make the cut, an achievement that earned him the Silver Cup 36
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and more importantly, the respect of millions of golf fans across the world. His peers that week – major champions and seasoned veterans alike – are still shaking their heads at his performance in the face of adversity. Guan, hyperbole in check, is truly one of a kind. Even the much discussed slow-penalty that nearly cost him the chance to play on the weekend couldn't spoil his fun. "The whole week is great for me," Guan said. "I really enjoy it. I'm having fun, and hopefully I play some good golf." Every day brought a new adventure for this Chinese wunderkind, and Sunday was no different. After making birdies on 13 and 16 — he missed another on 15 when his 3-foot putt skirted the low side of the hole — his tee shot on 17 landed in a spectator's bag of souvenirs. "I heard the sound of the ball hitting plastic and looked down," said spectator Tom Lowndes, who was crossing the adjacent 15th fairway. "The ball was sitting right there on top of this hat." Guan could only laugh when he saw his
ball, smiling broadly as he reached into the bag to grab it. He consulted with a rules official – he's practically on a first-name basis with the whole crew after his slow play problems – and eventually took a drop a few yards back and out of the walkway. He went up and over the trees in front of him and landed in the fairway, but his third shot left him 20-plus feet short of the pin. He got within two feet, and tapped in for a bogey. "It's all right," he said. "A bogey (there) is not bad." He two-putted from 40 feet to close out his first Masters with a par. Fans around the green gave him a standing ovation, and Guan waved his baseball cap in acknowledgment. "I'm so happy, I'm so proud of him," said Guan's father, Han Wen, a doctor. "In front of so many patrons, at such a great tournament, he played his game and stayed calm. I believe he will come here many times." That's possible. It isn't hard to see the polite teen as golf's next global icon. Fans were captivated by his precocious talent and calm maturity, and his baby face and sweetness – his mum packed his lunch all week – only added to his appeal. In what was sure to delight Masters officials – and everyone who watched – there were more shouts of "Jia You!" (Mandarin for "Let's go!") than "Get in the hole!" Several pockets of Chinese fans trailed Guan, almost all carrying bags stuffed with Masters merchandise. Golf's popularity, of course, is still in its infancy in China. The tours, sponsors and television are all eager to tap into that massive market, and HKGOLFER.COM
having a home-grown star like Guan would only help. Already, Guan's followers on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, is already close to 50,000. Guan still goes to regular public school, with English, math and history his favorite subjects. (Asked what classes he took, Guan said, "China, you don't take classes, they give you classes.") He lugged six of his textbooks along with him to Augusta and, after letting his studies slide the last few days, he planned to hit the books Sunday night. He and his parents initially planned to directly return to China, but that all changed after he accepted an invitation to tee it up in New Orleans for another PGA Tour event. He's received several invitations to play in other events, and he and his parents are trying to decide which ones to accept. He'd also like to try to qualify for the US Open. One thing Guan won't be doing any time soon is turning professional. His father has said hat he wants Guan to stay an amateur because "amateurs have fun. Enjoy it." And Guan said he still has a lot to learn. Though he's got a short game any pro would envy, he knows he has to work on his distance. That's sure to change as he gets older and stronger. "There's still a lot of things to learn to improve," Guan said. "So nothing to rush." Well, maybe just one thing. Asked when he thought he might like to win the Masters, he said: "As soon as possible." There is a worry, of course, that Guan gets thrown in amongst the pros on an all too frequent basis. He has, on the strength of his Masters debut, become a star – and tournament promoters the world over will be desperate to get him to play in their events for a while to come. This Masters honeymoon will last a while. Although Guan and his guardians are quick to reassure everyone that he has no intention of becoming the golfing equivalent of a circus act, one hopes that he himself has seen what happens to young talent when its thrust upon too high a stage too early. One only has to look at Michelle Wie and Ty Tyron to see how easily it is for prodigies to become unstuck. Guan is an intelligent young man – "I don't have many problems when it comes to school work," he told me – so let's hope he takes the advice of Faldo, one of several mentors he gained over the course of his Augusta experience. “Sure, he can play tour events,” Faldo said. “But he needs to keep winning [as an amateur], to get bored winning because he’s just won everything in the amateur game. Then move over [to the pro game]. “He has growing to do – physically, mentally, all those things. Golf is a sport that we can view as a 20-year window competing at the highest level. Do you get started at 14 to go to 34? Or get started at 20 to go to 40? I think that’s the smartest thing.” HKGOLFER.COM
The Masters – By the Book At this year’s Masters tournament, there were two Rules incidents that attracted much public interest. Partly because of incomplete information supplied by the press, they seem to have generated much misunderstanding among the golfing public. First, the Tiger Woods incident. On the second day, after his pitch to the 15th green hit the flagstick and rebounded into the water hazard in front of the green, Woods elected to proceed under Rule 26-1a, which meant playing again from where his previous shot was played. This Rule requires the ball to be dropped as near as possible to where the previous stroke was played from, but Woods chose to drop the ball about a yard farther back; this meant he had dropped the ball in the wrong place, for which the penalty is two strokes. When he signed his scorecard, he did not include this penalty. Normally the penalty for signing for a score better than one’s actual score is disqualification (Rule 6-6d). The reason he was not disqualified had nothing to do with any “new rule”. It was because the Committee had reviewed the videotape, (incorrectly) thought that there was no problem and did not interview him. His signing for a wrong score was therefore deemed to be the result of a Committee error. Under such circumstances, the disqualification penalty is, of course, waived (Dec. 343/1 illustrates this principle). It has nothing to do with the new Decision 33-7/4.5, which the authorities brought in to cover only such situations where a fact unknown to the player causes him not to include a penalty, such as his ball moving an infinitesimal amount that can only be picked up by a powerful zoom lens. This new Decision does not exempt a player from penalties incurred through breaching a Rule for any other reason, whether inadvertent or not. Second, the Guan slow-play incident. It has to be understood that a group is timed (“put on the clock” ) only if it has exceeded its prescribed time for the number of holes played and it is out of position in relation to the group in front. Guan’s group was out of position from the 10th hole. He got his first “bad time” on the 13th, for which there is no penalty, and his second “bad time” on the 17th, for which the penalty is one stroke. In eight holes, despite warnings, the group had failed to catch up, this despite the fact that Guan was playing with two fast players in Crenshaw and Manassero, so it is clear that he was guilty of slow play over a period of over two hours and had not made an adequate effort to speed up. It is virtually unknown in professional golf for a group to be out of position for that length of time. I am sure we are all proud of Guan’s performance and are delighted he made the cut, but there is no doubt that he deserved the penalty and, hopefully, will in future learn to play at a more acceptable pace. – Dr Brian Choa, Chairman, Rules and Decisions, Hong Kong Golf Association .
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