14-Year-Old Masters Golf

Chinese teen Tianland Guan shoots 73 to wow Masters - News | FOX Sports on MSN
No surprise that the first two letters of the first name of one of the Masters' big stories on Thursday are Ti.

The shock is that it isn’t Tiger Woods. The spotlight stealer in the opening round was Tianlang Guan.

All the Chinese teen did was shoot a one-over-par 73, finishing with a flourish by knocking in a birdie from the fringe on 18.

He may not win the tournament, but he’s already won over the gallery and his competition.

“He’s still growing,” said 61-year-old former Masters champ Ben Crenshaw, who played with the phenom and shot an 80. “I can see him hitting the ball further, and he handled some of those short shorts really well.”

The most challenging part of the first 18 holes were the par-4s, which cost the 5-foot-8, 140-pound Guan all five of his bogeys.

Tianlang qualified by leading the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship. He has bigger dreams.

"Hopefully I can win the four majors in one year," he said after 18 holes at Augusta.

When the eighth-grader was asked whether he would be hitting the books or studying the course, he replied, "Golf, just golf."

Rory McIlroy suggested the possibilities are limitless.

"You're playing in the Masters at 14. He could potentially play, I don't know, 60 Masters," McIlroy said.

Now, Guan can hope to shoot a round in the 60s. He's well on his way.

 

*whew* - He made the cut!
Day Leads at Masters, 14-Year-Old Makes Cut - ABC News

 

That sucked, but I think he handled the questions well after his round. Said he respected the decision and kept his composure. A lot of kids his age (even older) can learn from him as many probably would whine about the penalty.

I'm happy he made the cut and hope he plays well the next two days. He's got a bright future.

 

Woods will be in spotlight today...
He should be disqualified, it is a disgrace to the game and to the rules to which we abide that he is allowed to carry on competing.
The fact that he was handed a two shot penalty is farcical.
There is no grey area in this instance, Woods should have been disqualified.
He should now withdraw, failure to do so and he should be branded a cheat within this game.

Paul

 

The USGA has changed/amended the rule for signing an incorrect card which mandates DQ. I'm not a huge Tiger fan, but IMO he is continuing on under the curent/amended rules.

http://www.usga.org/news/2011/April/Rule-Revised-On-DQ-For-Incorrect-Card/

 

I am well aware of the rule change and fully support that change in the correct circumstances.

Woods made a conscious decision to drop the ball in a different position and thus gain an advantage (not for the first time in his career).
His option was to play from the drop zone or from as near to where the original shot was played. He did neither, he took an illegal drop and in his own words to gain an advantage.

The rule change does not support these circumstances and the idiotic Augusta National Committee have now made two wrong calls this tournament.

Paul

 

+1

As a golfer (wannabe) the rules and integrity of the game are more important than any golfer...even Tiger Woods. tiger puts HIMSELF first. Character is everything. Think if he had won the tournament. the game would have been damaged in a major way.

We all are custodians of the integrity of the game. TV ratings are expedient but honor is the basis of the game. Tiger would have done more for his legacy had he disqualified himself. Now we know he will use the interpretation of the rules to benefit himself. Nobody trusts him now. Tragic. And he is the number 1 player in the world. Ugh.

Golf is different than any other game. As Bobby Jones said (paraphrase): not calling a penalty on myself when I deserve it is like praising me for not robbing a bank!

Tiger cheated on his wife. He will get away with anything he can on the golf course. Sad we should have to have a rules official follow him around to make sure he follows the rules.

Sad indeed.