Top 25 golf stories of 2013, No. 21: Tianlang Guan assessed stroke penalty for slow play, still makes Masters cut

The 2013 Masters was one of the best major tournaments in the history of golf, with multiple monumental storylines branching out in different directions. Before the tournament hit the weekend, perhaps no story was bigger than 14-year-old Chinese amateur Tianlang Guan, who became the youngest player ever to participate in and then make the cut at the Masters.

Guan was paired with old-timer Ben Crenshaw, a two-time Masters winner and considered one the game’s great mentors and historians, and former teenage amateur phenom, Italian star Matteo Manassero. Facing the world’s most famous course for the first time, and green speeds he’d probably never experienced, it was likely that Guan bow out early at Augusta, posting a couple rounds in the upper 70s or low 80s and then taking the weekend off. But it was pretty clear from the start that he would be fighting for those first 36 holes to make it through to the weekend.

The amateur opened with a 1-over round of 73, good enough for T46 and above the cut line right in the middle of the pack. He put on a show throughout his first competitive 18 holes at Augusta, and then finished in style with a smooth birdie putt from the fringe on No. 18 to applause of Crenshaw:

At 14-years-old, just earning entry and showing up to play a couple rounds would have been an accomplishment. But on Thursday night, everyone was talking about whether the teenager could make it and go the full 72 holes.

His second tour through Augusta was a bit more of a grind, and Guan finished with a 3-over round of 75. But it should have been one stroke less, as he was dinged with an unheard of one-stroke penalty for slow play by the notorious John Paramor, who one writer called “the Joey Crawford” of golf rules officials. Guan had been warned about his pace down in Amen Corner at No. 12:

And then Paramor actually had the stones to take the relatively extreme step of dishing out the penalty. A confused Guan was informed of the one-stroke punishment in the 17th fairway as he battled to stay above the cut line over the final two holes of his second round:

Word of the penalty spread quickly, and the general reaction was indignant outrage. Slow play is definitely a problem at all levels of golf, but penalizing the 14-year-old hardly seemed appropriate. Plenty of golfers had been “put on the clock” in recent years, but this was the first one-stroke penalty for pace since Glen Day in the 1995 Honda Classic.

Guan himself took it in stride and told ESPN he “respected the decision,” but the Internet, TV, and Twitter erupted when they learned the kid who had been the best story of the first two days might miss the cut because of the ruling. Even Weezy got in on it:

Guan made four strokes on the par-4 17th, but he was forced to mark down a bogey five and was suddenly teetering on the cut line. He finished his first 36 holes at 4-over par, confined to waiting for all the players behind him to finish up and the cut line to officially settle.

All afternoon and early evening the line stayed right at 4-over, and it looked like he had a good chance to make it via the 10-shot rule as well. Guan did eventually get through right on the number, but the additional stroke made him sweat it out over those last few hours.

As an eighth grader, Guan, of course, never really had a shot at contention but it was quite apparent that he had achieved his goal by making the weekend. He dropped to the bottom of the leaderboard with a Saturday round of 77, and then fired a 75 on Sunday to finish 58th out of the 61 golfers who made the cut.

But given his record-setting age at the game’s most celebrated major, his play through the first two days, earning low amateur honors at Bobby Jones’ place, and the slow play penalty drama that pushed him to the edge of the cut line, Guan was undeniably one of the top stories in 2013.

Good job, Guan.

• Counting down the top 25 stories and moments that defined golf in 2013

• New USGA rule would have exonerated Tiger at BMW

• Scott, Stenson eye Tiger’s No. 1 world ranking

• Tiger, Lindsey take in Broncos-Chiefs | Spotted on the slopes

• Could PGA Championship head abroad to Royal Portrush?