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| Guan Tian-Lang of China (right) walks with the ball during the Championship Pro-Am of the Volvo China Open at Binhai Lake Golf Club in Tianjin municipality, on Friday. Thirteen-year-old Chinese Guan Tian-Lang shot a five-over-par 77 at the China Open on Thursday when he became the youngest golfer to play in a European Tour event |
Chinese prodigy Guan Tianlang, 13, missed out on becoming the youngest player to make the cut in a European Tour event when he finished 12 over par after 36 holes at the Volvo China Open yesterday.
The Guangzhou schoolboy followed up his first round five-over-par 77 with a 79 at par-72 Tianjin Binhai Lake Golf Club. Guan was tied 150th out of 155 players in the $3mn event co-sanctioned by OneAsia.
Guan had already made history just by teeing off in Tianjin at the age of 13 years and 177 days. The youngest cut-maker on the European Tour is Jason Hak, who reached the weekend at the 2008 Hong Kong Open aged 14 years and 304 days.
The story of the slight Guan, who started playing aged four and won the world junior title by 11 shots last year in San Diego, has outshone some of the big names taking part in Tianjin including Ian Poulter and Paul Casey.
Guan, who also has hopes of reaching this year’s US Open through qualifying, received a last-minute entry to the tournament via the China Golf Association.
“Long term, I was the youngest player to win the China amateur championship and it would be nice to be the youngest to win the (Volvo China) Open,” he said this week.
After two rounds England’s Gary Boyd and Jean-Baptiste Gonnet of France shared the lead with 11-under-par totals of 133.
“It was good today because the conditions were tough,” Boyd said afterwards, according to a OneAsia statement. “It was cold and windy out there so it makes the score all the more satisfying.”
He credited a return to his old coach for his good form, after had tried unsuccessfully to tinker with his game.
“There wasn’t a lot wrong there but this is such a mental game that if the confidence slips a little bit it can just start to multiply the problems pretty quickly and all of a sudden you are down on yourself.”
The Frenchman Gonnet also stressed keeping things simple, even under pressure.
“I have to go back to the five-year-old kid and try to play for fun. That will be the main aim for the weekend - to go out there and try to enjoy it because there is no point in playing the game if you are not having fun.”
England’s Poulter closed with birdie, birdie for a 71, scraping over the cut by a single shot, and Colin Montgomerie was seven strokes off the lead. But Casey, who has struggled with injury, missed the cut at three-over-par 147.
Japan’s Miyazato shares lead in Hawaii
Japan’s Ai Miyazato shot a bogey-free 65 to grab a share of the lead at the LPGA’s LOTTE Championship on Thursday while local favourite Michelle Wie failed to make the cut.
Miyazato, a seven-time winner on the LPGA Tour, needed just 25 putts in Thursday’s second round to reach an eight-under 136 total and is tied atop the leaderboard with Spain’s Azahara Munoz, who shot an eight-under 64.
“My putting was really good today,” Miyazato said. “I hit really solid on so many putts and I hit the ball well. I didn’t miss any fairways. My short game was really good, too. That’s why I shot seven-under.”
The same could not be said for Wie, who struggled in blustery conditions and missed the cut for the third consecutive tournament.
She shot 76 to go with an six-over 78 in the opening round. Wie had a quadruple-bogey nine on the par-five first—her 10th hole of the round.
Munoz, who is chasing her first LPGA Tour win, holed out from 102 yards for eagle on the par-four sixth hole. She also rolled in eight birdies, including four on the final five holes.
“On six, I holed my second shot and then hit another two like that close,” Munoz said. “It was a really nice round.”
Course record gives Every Texas Open lead
Matt Every fired a course-record nine-under par 63 on Thursday to seize a three-shot lead after the first round of the US PGA Tour’s $6.2mn Texas Open.
Every, seeking a first tour victory, had nine birdies in his flawless round on the demanding par-72 TPC San Antonio track and was three strokes in front of fellow American Hunter Haas.
Every’s sparkling round vindicated his decision to forego coaches and limit his practice time.
He parted with his swing instructor a fortnight ago, and said he was taking a less-is-more approach to his tournament preparation.
“Lately I’ve been trying to do as little as possible with everything involved with golf,” Every said. “If I’m hitting bad in the range I won’t even work out—I’ll quit and go home. And it’s been working. It has. I’m playing better golf because of it.”
He said watching others tweak their games in search of better scores had only made him more sure of his decision.
“I see the same guys tinkering with their swings, and they spend all day Tuesday and Wednesday practising, and I think, ‘God, I’m glad I’m not one of these guys,’” Every said. “And I’m sticking to that. When I get on the course, I’m more interested in playing golf than my golf swing.”
Every is in the lead for the first time since January, when he shared the lead going into the final round of the Sony Open.