AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tianlang Guan isn’t the fastest player on a golf course. That was evident in his opening round Thursday when he took his time gauging the elements, selecting his clubs and visualizing his shots.
Most 14-year-olds are in a hurry to do things. Not Guan. After Thursday’s 1-over 73, he was called poised and patient. “He never got rushed,” is how his playing partner Ben Crenshaw described him. Being deliberate was considered a good thing.
Apparently, it became a bad thing yesterday in the eyes of Masters rules officials, who put his group on the clock and after one warning assessed Guan with a one-stroke penalty for slow play on the 17th hole. After a bogey on 17 and par at the 18th, Guan finished with a 3-over 75 for the day, leaving him 4-over for the tournament.
Even with the penalty, it’s still a terrific score for the youngest to ever play in a Masters. But it left him in danger of missing the cut. Guan survived and will play the weekend, but the penalty was unnecessary and made the Masters look as if it was picking on a 14-year-old just to prove a point it might be hesitant to make to an established pro.
There were plenty of players taking their sweet time on their shots yesterday at Augusta National, where unpredictable wind wreaked havoc with club selection. Tiger Woods tossed grass in the air several times while on the tee at the par-3 sixth before making his shot. The scene was repeated throughout the golf course. Guan, however, was the only player penalized.
“I’m sick for him,” Crenshaw said. “He’s 14 years old. When you get the wind blowing out here, you’re going to change your mind.”
Look, most golfers and golf fans deplore slow play whether it’s at the Masters or at a local public course on the weekend. It ruins the game for everyone else. But common sense should have prevailed in this case. Competition committee chairman Fred Ridley said in a statement Guan’s group, which included Crenshaw and Matteo Manassero, was put on the clock after being out of position on the 10th. Guan then received his first warning on the par-5 13th hole after his second shot. He was penalized on the 17th when, according the statement, Guan exceeded the 40-second time limit “by a considerable margin.”
With essentially one hole to play, the penalty ruined what could have been another feel-good story for the Masters and golf. The youngest player to compete in the tournament was a shoe-in to make the cut. Instead, he had to wait to see if any of the afternoon leaders were able to get to 7-under. Nevertheless, Jason Day missed birdie putts at 17 and 18 to stay at 6-under and prevent Guan from missing the cut.
A stickler for the rules might say Guan shouldn’t be treated any differently than any other player. But you would have to be naive to think Rule 6-7 of the Rules of Golf and Tournament’s Pace of Play Policy isn’t arbitrarily enforced. Only three players over the last 17 years have been penalized for slow play in a major, the most recent being Gregory Bourdy in the 2010 PGA Championship. The last slow play penalty issued in a PGA Tour event was way back in 1995 when Glen Day was cited in the third round of the Honda Classic.
Guan has drawn millions of international eyeballs to the Masters. People who normally don’t watch golf are interested in seeing how a 14-year-old will do on golf’s grandest stage.
Yes, he’s slow. There were reports he took six minutes to hit a putt on the second green yesterday. He took forever to select his club on at the par-3 16th after watching Manassero go in the water.
To his credit, Guan handled the penalty with his normal unemotional manner, other than to say, “I don’t think I’m too bad.”
Shame on the Masters. He’s just a kid.
george.willis@nypost.com