Guan Tianlang, 14-year-old Chinese prodigy, became the youngest winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Golf Championship after a closing one-under-par 71 gave him a 15-under total of 273 and a nail-biting one-stroke victory Sunday.
At Amata Spring Country Club in Chonburi, Thailand, Guan, the youngest player in the field, completed a wire-to-wire victory that has earned him an invitation to next year's Masters Tournament. When the Masters begins next April, Guan is set to become the youngest competitor in the history of the Tournament at 14 years, five months and 17 days.
The previous record was established by Matteo Manassero in 2010, when the 16-year-old earned an invitation after winning the British Amateur Championship in 2009.
Guan has also secured a place in International Final Qualifying (IFQ) for The Open Championship along with runner-up Pan Cheng-tsung of Chinese Taipei, Asia's No. 2 amateur, who shot a 65.
After posting earlier rounds of 66, 64 and 72, Guan opened up a five-shot lead with birdies at holes two and four. He then dropped back with bogeys at seven and nine, but birdies at 11 and 14 kept him two clear of a charging Pan, who peppered the scoreboard with nine birdies.
Guan's lead was cut to just one after a bogey on 16. The teenager, who spends three months in Florida each summer, showed impressive composure to par the 141-yard, island-green 17th and the par-four 18th, where his 60-degree wedge shot from just off the green rolled five foot past the flag. After inspecting the putt from several angles and wiping his face and hands, the laid-back teenager stepped up to hole the most important putt of his short career.
"I'm so excited. I'm really happy to become the youngest player at the Masters and looking forward to going there. I don't know what's going to happen there, but I know I just want to do well," said Guan.
Guan, who plays at Lion Lake Golf Club in Guangzhou, is used to breaking records and making history. He was the youngest winner of the China Amateur Open last November, while his appearance in this year's China Open made him the youngest player to compete on the European Tour.
Pan put pressure on Guan with a sensational round. The Chinese Taipei star birdied the first, had a hat-trick of birdies from four to six and bogeyed nine. He started the back nine with four straight birdies, before his charge was again halted by a bogey on 14, but he responded with another birdie at 15 before coming home with three straight pars.
Australian teenager Oliver Goss finished third at 12-under, two ahead of two-time champion Hideki Matsuyama, Asia's No. 1 amateur.
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