Masterly Advice

For all the talk of Tiger, Rory, Bubba and Phil, this month's Masters Tournament will be of particular interest to those of us in Hong Kong and southern China for the inclusion in the elite field of Guan Tian-lang, the amateur prodigy from Guangzhou, who will be making history regardless of how he fares on the emerald-green fairways and slick, sloping greens of Augusta National.

Guan's participation in this, arguably the greatest – and certainly the most recognisable – of major championships, stems from his victory at last year's Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, a Masters Tournament and R&A-organized event that started life in 2009 after a glitzy press conference at The Peninsula in Tsim Sha Tsui ushered in its creation a few months earlier. Finding the host venue, Amata Spring, on the outskirts of Bangkok very much to his liking, Guan, with his somewhat controversial belly-putter in hand, put in a quite brilliant display to post 15-under-par and take the title by a shot. In doing so, he was assured of joining his compatriots, Zhang Lian-wei and Liang Wen-chong, as one of only three golfers from mainland China to book his berth at The Masters. The difference with Guan? Not only had he actually qualified for The Masters (both Zhang and Liang received special invitations courtesy of the Tournament Committee), but at the age of just 14 he was assured of surpassing Italian star Matteo Manassero as the youngest player ever to do so.

Guan, of course, is not yet allowed to legally drive along Magnolia Lane, the magnificent tree-lined avenue that connects the outside world with Augusta's colonial-era clubhouse, a fact that has led to some rather snide comments by other members of the Fourth Estate about his upcoming participation: surely, some have argued, a berth in The Masters – something that has eluded many fine professionals over the years – should only be reserved for someone who has a chance of actually winning.

They're missing the point. The Masters retains a strong and admirable association with the amateur branch of golf. Bobby Jones, the great amateur champion of the 1920s, was not only a co-founder of the tournament but also had a hand in the creation of the course – and amateurs, until fairly recently winners of significant events in the USA and Britain, have always made up a small but important proportion of the field.