The world of golf may have glimpsed its future Thursday in the form of Guan Tianlang, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Guangzhou, China.
On a day when countless eighth graders across the country saw their orthodontists and fretted over potential dates for the middle school graduation dance, Guan calmly played in the world's most famous golf tournament in a threesome that included Ben Crenshaw, the 61-year-old former Masters champion who is old enough to be Guan's grandfather.
With a series of gutsy chips and clutch putts on Augusta National's pool-table slick greens, Guan notched four birdies and carded a 1-over-par 73, two shots better than Bubba Watson, the defending champion.
On the 18th hole, Guan stood over his 12-foot putt from the fringe and rolled it perfectly to the edge of the cup, then pumped his fist as it dropped into the hole.
"It must help to have 14-year old nerves," said Crenshaw.
The boy's father, Han Wen, gushed, "He's always as good as he was today."
"One chip, one putt, that's his game," said John Ho, an owner of Guan's home course in Guangzhou, Lion Lake Country Club. "He's unbelievable."
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Earlier this week, Guan met with six-time Masters winner Jack Nicklaus.
There were other notable performances during the first day at the Masters. Australian Marc Leishman, a relative unknown, reeled off four birdies on the back nine to shoot a 66 and a share of the lead. Englishman David Lynn, a definite unknown, carded a 68, tying him with a 53-year-old Fred Couples for third place as twilight fell. Tiger Woods, the prohibitive favorite, shot a 70, the same opening round score he carded when he won the tournament in 1997, 2001 and 2002.
But the giddiest buzz surrounded a kid who will hustle back to China next week to catch up on the gossip at Guangzhou Zhixin Middle School.
His par-saving putt on the fourth hole elicited roars, his birdie putt on 13 yelps. Guan barely cracked a smile.
What makes Guan all the more surprising is his country's ambivalence toward the sport. The Communist government doesn't want to embrace what it views as a rich-man's game. Officially, the construction of golf courses has been banned in China since 2004, but hundreds have sprouted since then, including many designed by the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Arnold Palmer.
Of the estimated 600 golf courses in China, only a few are legal. Government officials aren't supposed to golf. Some wear two gloves on a weekend outing to avoid the giveaway tanned right hand on Monday morning.
But golf is good both for tourism and for greasing the wheels of business that propel the world's second-largest economy.
Before Guan, the country had produced few world class golfers. Liang Wen-Chong is the only Chinese golfer to reach the top 100 in the Official World Golf Rankings. He played at the Masters in 2008 but failed to make the cut.
To earn an automatic entry into the Masters, Guan won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship last November, by sinking a 5-foot par putt on the final hole.
After Guan qualified for the Masters, Ho, the Lion Lake owner, built a practice green with low-cut grass to match the speed of Augusta National's, and allowed only Guan to play on it. Too much use would ruin the delicate grass.
"This is about power for China," said Ho. Plus, as word spreads that Lion Lake is Guan's home course, the club is bound to become more popular. "It's going to be a lot more famous, especially with the kids."
Guan's father, who introduced his son to the game when he was a toddler, picks him up after school every day for the one-hour trip to Lion Lake. Guan practices there until dark, usually without a coach.
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Guan held up his ball after sinking a birdie putt on the Augusta Green Thursday.
In Georgia, Guan has been eating lunch in the clubhouse, his mother said through an interpreter, and has been dining out with his family at night. About a half-dozen relatives and friends made the trip. One night they went to TBonz, the steakhouse chain. Another night they went to Shangri-La Chinese Cuisine.
For breakfast Thursday, Guan ate a typical Chinese breakfast of potatoes with meat, rice and stir-fried eggs, showing no sign of nerves, his mother said.
Guan said he watched a little television Wednesday night and after a good sleep had only slight nerves as he approached the first tee. "I hit a good shot and after that I felt comfortable," he said.
After bogeying the opening hole, Guan barely missed a birdie putt on the second. Then he pounded his drive on the 350-yard, par-four third hole within fifty yards of the flag and hit a wedge to within 10 feet.
Standing over his putt, a drive from the group following Guan's rolled up on the green. No matter. Guan took a breath and drained his putt. Shots like that soon had the Augusta galleries mangling his name in their throaty southern drawls.
"Bite!" Jackie Crenshaw yelled as Guan's second shot on the seventh hole rolled toward the rough. Guan's best shot of the day came on the sixth hole, when he had to chip from a downhill lie onto a green that was sloping away from him. Guan bounced the ball off the hill just before the green, which slowed his ball just enough to leave him with a short putt to save par.
Guan has no chance of winning the tournament. His drive usually doesn't travel more than 250 yards, making several of the course's long par-four holes too difficult for him.
And in all sports, teenage wonders sometimes falter with age. At 13, Michelle Wie, the U.S. golfer, was supposed to evolve into a player who could compete with men.
But as he battles Friday to make the cut at this year's tournament, Guan said he intended to enjoy himself.
Whatever happens, the mundane business of being a schoolboy lies immediately ahead. "He definitely needs to go back and take exams," said Jack Peng, a golf agent who is serving as an adviser to Guan's family.
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