If there is any lingering resentment over the controversial penalty handed down to Guan Tianlang at this year’s Masters not a trace of it can be found when speaking to the teenager. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Six months have passed since Guan, at the age of 14, survived to play the final 36 holes of the year’s first Major.
That remarkable feat, which made Guan the youngest player in history to make the cut at a Major championship, was overshadowed in part by the one-stroke punishment issued for slow play during the second round which left him on the cut line at four over.
The general consensus at Augusta was that it was harsh to punish Guan while serial offenders were ignored. As he glances back at the affair, though, Guan takes an alternative view.
“I still respect what they did with me,” Guan says. “I still really respect the referee and I think it’s a really good experience for me. So I learned from that, I paid attention. I think I should thank him (the referee) for that.”
Guan will defend the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship title from October 24th at Nanshan in China's Shandong province. It was that success in 2012 which earned him the Masters invite.
Added confidence
A year on, Guan insists the only noticeable difference in his life is added confidence when heading into tournament golf, despite the attention that was focused on him in Georgia.
“I don’t feel much more pressure this time,” Guan says. “But I think it is still the greatest amateur event in the world. So I really hope to win it again. And I feel like if I am playing well and I’m having a really good week, I can win again.”
Guan will not turn 15 until October 25th and has no immediate aspirations of moving into professional golf. “I still have no idea about turning pro now,” he insists.
“I’m still working on my game but schoolwork is very important for me still. So I think there is still a long way to go. I hope I can go back to Augusta next year, too. But other than that I don’t have a plan.”
Since Augusta, Guan has featured in professional events in the United States and returned to China in August, since when he has returned to his daily studies.
On the course, Guan has now learned to play without the belly putter which was in use at the Masters.
“Now I’m back to using the normal putter,” he explains. “I don’t think it is too much different, or about which one is better. I changed back maybe a month ago. I still wish I could putt even better.”
Guan’s long game was the aspect which, by his own admission, needed more improvement.
His lack of length off the tee owed nothing to technical troubles but rather a lack of physical development. “I’m doing a little more work in the gym,” Guan says.
“After a couple of PGA Tour events I went to San Diego and worked with Doctor Greg Rose at the Titleist performance institute on my physical side. I have a lot to thank him for; my body feels stronger now. I can hit it a little bit longer.”
The continuation of Guan’s education and move, for now, back towards a normal life might placate those who fear that exposing a 14-year-old to top-level sport may be harmful.
There is intrigue, too, over what impact Guan’s prominence will have on golf’s development in China.
Both the European and US PGA Tours are keen to tap further into what is a developing area in the sport, but the fact remains that golf is generally an elite game for the Chinese. Not every youngster has the affluent backdrop that has helped Guan's emerging career. Guan, however, sees progress.
Growing fast
"I think golf in China now is growing really, really fast," he adds. "And I think after playing in the Masters, Chinese people who didn't know golf in the past, now they come to know golf and some start to pick up the game. So I think that has been very, very good for golf and for China.
"I think all of the Chinese people are happy for me and I think more and more people know about golf in China. More people know about the Masters and I think it means a lot to the young players in China. They think, probably, the Masters is not that far away from them."
Guardian Service