The youngest ever: 14-year-old Tianlang makes Masters cut

Amateur Guan Tianlang, 14, of China becomes the youngest player ever to make the cut at the Masters despite receiving a surprising penalty.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Guan Tianlang has made the cut at the Masters. The 14-year old amateur from China, who earlier received a surprising penalty, became the youngest player ever to play through the weekend at Augusta National.

The Chinese eight-grader was penalized one stroke for slow play late in the second round Friday, believed to be the first time such a ruling has ever been made at the Masters.

The penalty could have hurt Guan's chances of making the cut, since he needed to be among the top 50 or at least within 10 strokes of the lead.


When Augusta National announced the decision, the youngster was tied for 57th. Marc Leishman was leading at 6 under, 10 shots ahead of Guan, with eight holes still to play.

Fred Ridley, the club's competition committee chairman, said Guan's threesome was first warned for being too far behind the group ahead of them at the 10th hole. The teenager went on the clock two holes later when an official imposed a 40-second time limit to play a stroke, and gave Guan his first warning on the 13th hole.

"In keeping with the applicable rules, he was penalized following his second shot on the 17th hole when he again exceeded the 40-second time limit by a considerable margin," Ridley said in a statement.

That turned what would have been a par into a bogey. Guan finished at 3-over 75 for the round, giving him a 4-over 148 total.

"I respect the decision," he said. "This is what they can do."

Augusta National spokesman Steve Ethun said there were no records of the penalty ever being assessed during the Masters.

The last player to be penalized for slow play at a major was Gregory Bourdy at the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

"I know the rules pretty good," Guan said. "But I think my routine was pretty good, too. Just the wind changed. The weather, it was not a good day."

A rainy morning turned into a blustery afternoon, which sent scores much higher than they were in the opening round. Guan said it took him longer to judge distances and pick clubs because of the wind.

Nevertheless, Guan said his first Masters experience would not have been dampened if he missed the cut because of a penalty.

"This is still a wonderful experience for me," he said. "I enjoyed this week so far. I think I did a pretty good job."

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