Tiger admits awe at China starlet Guan

For a moment or two, the hype appeared to be justified. After a week of marvelling at a 14-year-old qualifying for the Masters, Tianlang Guan took out his driver yesterday and swiped his opening shot in the majors straight down the middle.

To the manor born and all that for the schoolkid from China, except he marked his first Masters scorecard with an opening bogey five.

Still, even if Guan’s Masters adventure were to end tonight, with a missed cut and a long flight home to Guangdong on which to catch up on his homework, it has been remarkable golfing achievement just getting here. His presence at Augusta National as the youngest competitor in 77 years of Masters history comes by virtue of his win in the 2012 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, a tournament created by the Masters and the R&A to help develop the game in Asia by reaching out to that continent’s youth.