Posted on 04/12/2013 9:25:46 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
To put this performance into perspective, consider that Guan finished his first career Masters round tied with five major champions and two strokes ahead of the defending champion, Bubba Watson.
He should have been a nervous wreck, a golfing shambles. The sheer length of Augusta National was supposed to overwhelm Tianlang Guan, remind him that he is 14 years old, an eighth grader, a thin reed in a forest of pines.
Instead, Guan rolled a 20-foot, pin-high putt into the cup on the 18th hole for a final birdie, giving him an impressive 1-over 73 in the first round Thursday. Altogether, he recorded four birdies and five bogeys on the round.
“Like a dream come true,” Guan said. To put this performance into perspective, consider that Guan finished his first career Masters round tied with five major champions and two strokes ahead of the defending champion, Bubba Watson.
His mom had packed him a snack in the morning and then off he went, the youngest Masters competitor in history. He impressed a lot of people, although Guan appeared least surprised of all by his own success. When asked about his career goals, Guan was not particularly modest.
“Hopefully I can win the four majors in one year,” he said.
Ben Crenshaw, one of his two playing partners on Thursday, did not disagree. Crenshaw has become something of a tutor for Guan here, has played a practice round with him and dined with Guan’s uncle to discuss the kid’s future.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
A similar argument I suppose could be made for the Kenyans and marathons, though that is a far more extreme example.
In East Africa championship distant runners are the equivalent to LeBron James or Aaron Rodgers in America. There’s a lot of motivation for success in running over there.
No doubt - Yao Ming is a good example that - when their careers are over, they go back to serve the state - same will be true of this kid if he doesn’t break away
“Big deal. I shot 68 on the 1st six holes..”
I shot the same on my first 6 a month ago near Bel Air. Where’s my ESPN suck up?
I don’t doubt that.
I was only referring to the OP’s belief that Americans would lose interest in a sport where all the top competitors are completely foreign to them, and arguably other than for those directly competing, the marathon has gone that way over the past couple of decades.
The relative finance opportunity, reward and need of course tend to be much greater for East Africans than for Americans as well.
“Paula Creamer would have become another Annika Sorenstam if she got rid of her violent body motion with the longer clubs.”
Creamer does not hit the ball far enough. There were rumors that Anika’s length was chemically aided.
Kid shot 75 today including a 1 stroke penalty enforced for slow play... He’s +4 and the current projected cut line is +6
But Kim Jong Il shot an amazing 11 holes-in-one to achieve an unprecedented 38-under-par game on a regulation 18-hole golf course - on his first try at golf.
“my point totally - which is - fans don’t want a bunch of foreign golfers who all have similar sounding short names, look alike, and for the most part are robotic. The fans are turned off”
Sorry, you are totally wrong.
You meant to say “my point totally - which is - fans don’t want a bunch of ORIENTAL golfers who all have similar sounding short names, look alike, and for the most part are robotic. The fans are turned off”
The fact is the white/european/caucasian americans love watching a bunch of russian women who are equally same looking with last names ending in “ova” who are equally robotic.
The fact is the white/euro-americans did not want to watch the black american Williams sisters win either. Ok, Serena is freakish looking but I find Venus to be perfectly acceptable to look at.
The fact is the white americans loved very robotic Borg, Edberg, Vilas, etc. much more than they liked their own Conners, Sampras, Courier, and Chang.
And I would hardly call the Asian women golfers robotic.
I’ve always wondered about the course at the Pyongyang Country Club. What must THAT be like?
That is also a sport that is not dependent on spectators so much....
Wow, you really got your panties in a wad - so let me help you straighten out your laundry.
First, I was not commenting on my own tastes - I’ve never cared much for the LPGA from a fan standpoint at any time, but I have noticed a cooling of the sport and reduced exposure as every other league in golf is surging. I have also noticed a leaderboard dynamic that I think explains it. I was not justifying it, nor condemning it, just making an observation and a prediction.
As for tennis, it is also a sport that is not exactly booming over the past 30 years compared to golf (although it is on a little uptick lately) - and I think the robotic nature of some of the tennis stars is part of the reason. I also think it’s absurd to think that Russian beauties have invaded women’s tennis in the same numbers that Koreans have invaded womens golf. Your analogy is laughable.
Having said that, anything with a bunch of Anna Kournikova look alikes will get a ton of attention. You can’t fight human nature. Now, go get some decaf and quit looking for dark hidden agendas and emotions that do not exist....
“Kid shot 75 today including a 1 stroke penalty enforced for slow play... He’s +4 and the current projected cut line is +6”
It probably was not the kid’s fault for slow play.
His playing partners were Manasero (+2 for the day) and Ben Crenshaw at +12 for the day.
There just are not that many pros who play fast at 12 over.
My guess is the whole group got put on the clock and then Guan was the guy who ended up with the ticket.
The only lpga event I went to was at tartan fields in dublin ohio.
I camped out at one hole where you could see what was happening on 4 different holes. Some asian women won and was playing with creamer in the last group. About 10 people followed that group around and about 300 were following Natalie Gulbis around.
I’ve also been to the memorial in dublin and only about 600-700 follow tiger woods around.
I guess the koreans need to die their hair blonde, get boob jobs and dress like a stripper to make the sport popular.
I broke 80 once. Don’t even try and ask me how the second hole went.
Well physical looks are a huge factor in everything - and becoming more so in the world of sports. Women are just as guilty of this, maybe more so, towards male athletes than men are for womens athletics. Having said that, the LPGA has always struggled to gain a foothold.
As for the Korean stars, who are almost always prodigies, there is a single mindedness of focus that tends to make them boring when they flood the sports leaderboard. Fair or not, it would be more interesting if there were just a few of them - but there’s not much for fans to related to with them. And in golf, relating to the person is important unless there’s something else inherently intersting about you. (Tiger, Rickie Fowler, Freddie Couples, Dustin Johnson, all interesting for very different reasons).
Now, as for small galleries for Tiger at the Memorial? Hmmm. Not sure I believe that. I never noticed that..ever...though I have read with interest the absolute NON relationship Tiger and Jack have. I would not have suspected such.
I checked the scorecards of guan’s group.
on 16, crenshaw took a double bogey, mansero a bogey and guan a par. The slow play penalty was assessed on 17.
guan’s card has 3 bogeys and 15 pars.
I am guessing guan’s group is more responsible for slow play than guan himself.
Yea, like trying to outrun lions.....
A writer for Golf World tweeted that Guan was given three wanrings before the penalty. Also said that two other players were also given penalties for slow play today.
His skill, his calm demeanor and his confidence remind me of young Tiger Woods.
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