Guan Tianlang will be 14 years, 5 months and 17 days when he tees off at Augusta this week – the youngest player ever to play at the US Masters.
Or is it Tianglang, or Tian-lang? All three have been mentioned in dispatches, but we will go with Tianlang as the most widely used.
Hard to get your head around isn’t it?
A pencil-thin, 54kg-dripping-wet teenager who drives a maximum 250 yards off the tee has genuinely qualified for the prestige major.
He looks more like a golf stick than a boy.
Just as hard as to recall China barred golf until 1984 as ‘bourgeois frippery’, and golf courses a waste of space that should be farmland to feed the teeming millions.
Like so many ways of our life, dramatic changes have been made.
In just 29 years since golf was accepted, China’s closing in on 1,000 top class courses, and expect 20 million to be regular golfers by 2020.
Awesome stats but in a population of 1.3 billion, understandable.
Andy Zhang was the first breakthrough when he became a last-minute replacement at last year’s US Open at 14, just slightly older than Tianlang.
He missed the cut.
Guan, pronounced Juan, was born at sunrise, and means ‘beautiful sunny day’.
That’s what it will be for the teenager when he tees off with Sir Nick Faldo in the annual par three tournament.
He has already played seven practice rounds at Augusta with the likes of Tiger Woods, Ben Crenshaw, Dustin Johnson, Tom Watson, and Sir Nick. And he had them all blinking in amazement.
Guan wasn’t even born when Woods won his first Masters in 1997.
He picked up his first golf club at four, watched his first Masters in television when he was five, and emulated Jim Furyk’s awkward golf swing at six.
Is it too soon?
I’ve always believed if you’re good enough, you are old enough.
The jury is obviously out in Guan Tianlang, but give him the chance to strut his stuff.
An early start hasn’t damaged Michelle Wie, who was 14 years 2 months and 29 days when she teed up in the 2004 Sony Open in Hawaii on the men’s tour.
She has since won two pro tournaments – the 2009 Lorena Ochoa Invitational, and the 2010 Canadian Open – on the women’s tour, with her best major finish a second in the 2005 LPGA as an amateur.
Martina Hingis won her first Slam title at Wimbledon in 1996 at 15 years and 9 months in the doubles with Helena Sukova, and won her first singles Slam at Roland Garros at 16 years and 3 months in 1997.
All up Hingis won five singles Slams, nine Slam doubles, and 37 tournaments on the WTA tour.
Michael Chang was only 17 years, 3 months and 20 days hen he won the French Open in 1989 and reached two other Slam finals at the Australian and US in 1996.
Chang went onto win 34 tournaments on the men’s tour.
For the record, Lleyton Hewitt is the youngest Australian Slam singles champion at 20 years, 6 months, and 16 days when he won the 2001 US Open – the 14th youngest Slam winner in history.
So there’s plenty for Guan Tianlang to draw on.
Veteran American Steve Stricker summed him up best.
“I can’t believe he’s the same age as my daughter Bobbi,” he said.
“I just can’t imagine being that young and competing at this level. I’ll be interested to see how he does, how he handles it, and how he plays.
“It’s remarkable he’s even playing”.
That it is, but for at least two days Guan Tianlang will be the headline no matter how Woods plays. Even more so if Guan goes the distance.
David Lazzaro
Roar Pro
Just watching the first round here and the young fella has done pretty well so far, being +2 after 16 holes. The key for this kid will be for those around him to handle his progression appropriately. Qualifying for the Masters was probably the furthest thing from his mind during the qualifying tournament. Once it happened, what a great experience for him. There's probably less pressure on him as a 14 year old as opposed to a 18 or 19 year old amateur who has a bit more exposed form.
David Lord
Expert
Try the broomstick WhatUsername, they will never ban it.
WhatUsername
Roar Rookie
Sadly, the real problem lies within the strange qualification system that Augusta uses. It's an Asia - Pacific amateur. Note, not the US or British. But an Asia - Pacific amateur. Sure, I understand expanding the game, but we are talking about what was a relatively weak field playing for a masters spot. However, he's there on merit, so for that, kudos. I'd love to be in his position, shame I can't putt but
David Lord
Expert
No.
Pollock
Guest
Incredible that a kid so young could win a spot in the biggest golf tournament in the world. As long as he got there on merit by winning a qualifying event I can't see the problem. The masters as well as other majors, with the possible exception of the PGA, reserve spots for amateurs who naturally tend to be young. The other consideration is that the Masters is one of the few tournaments in the world that doesn't have to bow to commercial pressures so can do whatever the hell they like. You gotta love that.
boes
Roar Pro
Geoff Ogilivy for example is just outside the top 50, has won a major and finished top 5 at Augusta a couple of years ago. By what process did this kid qualify? If he's good enough he's old enough - I would suggest he is neither. He may make the cut but he won't feature on Sunday. Give him a few years to play some more golf with the men and get him back in the fold at 17 or 18 when he might pass as a young man not a child. If he's good enough at that age he would earn his place by winning tournaments or entry via world ranking. At this point he'll be old enough...
Warren
Guest
Oh Mr Lord, you disappoint me. So is "batter" ok in cricket?
MadMonk
Guest
David Correct me if I am wrong but doesn't the masters have its own (some would say perculiar) qualification processes. Given its small field and spots for the old legends, undoubtedly this kid is taking the spot of a senior pro who could win it. However it is one of those nice stories that the broadcaster will milk until he misses the cut.
Damo
Guest
He won the 2012 Asian-Pacific Amateur Champ. Gives him direct qualification to the masters. He is an amateur. He is unable to receive sponsorship money, he can receive free equipment and travel expenses but that is it. There is no commercial motive behind it at this point. He doesn't have a sponsor, note his hat which has the emblem of his home club in China.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Agree with David on that, you are never too young or too old if you're good enough. Only exceptions for me would be contact sports or combat sports. Would not be able to cope if a 16 yo had sustained a major injury following a contact or a hit. I know, It can happen to anyone no matter how old you are but send a youngster in a wheelchair just because he was good enough would not be justifiable.
David Lord
Expert
Johnno, there have been quite a few like Pat Rafter who you have singled out that were young champions and never went off the rails: Ken Rosewall Lew Hoad John Newcombe Guillermo Vilas Ivan Lendl Stefan Edberg Pete Sampras Jim Courier Roger Federer Andy Roddick Juan Carlos Ferrero Novak Djokovic Rafael Nadal Juan Martin del Potro Andy Murray Margaret Court Billie Jean King Evonne Cawley Chris Evert Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver Monica Seles Lindsay Davenport Justine Henin Maria Sharapova The Williams sisters Kim Clijsters Sam Stosur Victoria Azarenka Quite an impressive list as against the ones who had their troubles en route.
David Lord
Expert
No Johnno, I didn't have a problem with Becker winning at all, the second youngest to Chang of all time. In fact I was amazed at not only his immense power for one so young, but tactically shrewd as well. You say thrust them into the spotlight, but nobody did that, Becker earned the right to be in the spotlight because he beat everyone he had to in the draw. Game. set, and match.
Johnno
Guest
Dvaid your views on this surprised me. I thought you would of said let them just hang at school develop there, what about just going on there billy karts, play marbles, , kick a footy around, listen to the radio, have a social hit of tennis or golf at there local club, and just be average normal kids. But instead you think if there good enough thrust them into the spotlight. I suppose you didn't have a problem with a 17 yr old Boris Becker winning wimbeldon.
Matt F
Roar Guru
In a general sense I don't have an issue with age. If they're good enough then they're old enough, or young enough when we talk about veterans. Of course, whether this kid is good enough at this stage of his career is certainly debatable.
Johnno
Guest
sheek Shane Gould Jennifer Capriati Tiger Woods steffi graff Andre Agassi Boris Becker Mats Wilander Pat Cash Michelle Wie Monica Seles Aranxa Sanchez Vicario John Mcenroe Bjorn Borg Jelena Dokic Hewitt Scud All of these prodigies at some stage had major emotional problems as adults linked to there childhood's being stars from childhood way too soon, and some literally are lucky to be alive to this day, such was there self destruction . Some of them had drug problems , and all sorts of issues, even committed other crimes beyond drug taking. Like childhood movie stars, prodigy sports stars are a worry. The WTA women's tennis tour is far better now with young players , they have strict restrictions on how many tournaments a player under 18 can play now, and adjust there loads according to there age, but are pretty strict. Pat Rafter who still reached no 1 , in the world is a shining example of a kid who had a very normal family life, a big family about 6-8 kids his parents had. No fancy academies , just mum;s home cooking and a lot of practise in QLD. Went to school finished school, and all that, a normal kid.
sheek
Roar Guru
David, I understand your argument. Normally I agree with you but sometimes even like-minded people have their disagreements. ;-) I had a close family friend, a girl only two months older than me, who ended up two classes higher than me at high school. She was unbelievably bright. A Mensa genius. Her mother was a bit of a "go-getter" & wanted to push her daughter as far & as quickly as she could. Naturally the girl matriculated to Uni, but it seems she started to rebel against all the expectations. She swapped courses mid-stream, finally graduated, but seemed to want to make a point of being 'normal' rather than 'exceptional' or 'prodigy.' So she kinda went bohemian & hippy for a while. It's a lesson that's stuck with me about pushing young people too early & placing expectations upon them before they've developed the emotional capacity to deal with it. For me, that's the real crunch here pushing kids too young - emotional immaturity. Lack of life skills.
Geoff Parkes
Expert
David, sorry to be a smart alec, but the Khawaja line was meant to be sarcastic. And to see if Praveen was up and about.
David Lord
Expert
Warren, a stick, club, six of one, half a dozen of the other.
David Lord
Expert
sheek, I hope the girls are different !!!!!! But seriously, if any golfer qualifies for any tournament, they have earned the right to compete. How can you deny them that for reasons other than the ability that got them there? It happens so rarely for virtual kids I can't see how you can be so selective. If you take your suggestion to the wire, then you have to ban them from the qualifiers until they are 18, and that too is discriminatory.
Khawarmy Khawarmy
Roar Pro
+1