AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Masters second round was marred yesterday by a controversial one-stroke penalty assessed to 14-year-old Chinese player Tianlang Guan, who has been a star of the week.
The penalty left Guan, the eighth-grader who is the youngest player ever to play the Masters and youngest to play in a major championship in 148 years, anxiously waiting until early evening to see if he would make the cut — with the penalty shot poised to be the difference in whether he would make it or not.
It was not until tournament leader Jason Day, playing in the final group, failed to birdie the 18th hole that Guan knew he would play two more rounds at Augusta this weekend.
Guan was assessed the penalty after his second shot at the 17th hole, turning what would have been a par into a bogey. He finished with a 3-over-par 75, leaving him at 4-over and in peril of missing the cut.
According to tournament officials, the penalty was the first for slow play in Masters history.
The top 50 scores and those within 10 shots of the leader make the cut at the Masters, which meant if a player finished at 7-under those at 4-over would not make it to the weekend. Day flirted with getting to 7-under several times on his last few holes.
The remarkable grace and maturity with which Guan reacted to the penalty was as stunning as the penalty being issued in the first place.
“I respect the decision they make,” Guan said after emerging from a meeting with tournament officials that lasted nearly 90 minutes after his round. “They should do it because it’s fair to everybody.”
Two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw, who played with Guan, reacted with more anger and animation than Guan, saying, “This isn’t going to end pretty. I’m sick. I’m sick for him.’’
Guan, Crenshaw and Matteo Manassero never held up the group behind them during the round, but Fred Ridley, the competition committee chairman at Augusta National, said they were first warned for being out of position at No. 10.
Guan was put on the clock two holes later, and received his first warning at the 13th hole.
Guan had a delay on the par-3 16th because he was confused by the swirling winds, which were an issue for most players. After Manassero’s tee shot on 16 went into the water, Guan spent more than five minutes debating clubs with his caddie, Brian Tam, who is a regular caddie at the course.
The delay on 16 seemed to be the last straw.
John Paramor, the chief referee for the European Tour, said he warned Guan as the group walked to the 17th tee he needed to speed up his play. But Guan had another delay before his second shot on 17 and Paramor pulled him aside as he approached the green and told him he was being assessed a one-stroke penalty.
“I was a little bit [emotional] on the 17th green and I didn’t make that birdie putt,” Guan said. “But on the 18th, I think I did a pretty good job, saved the par. So I still have a chance.”
As it would turn out, that poised par-save on the 18th hole — where a day earlier Guan birdied with a putt from off the green to shoot 73 — kept him around for the weekend.