Masterly Advice

One of the first things that Faldo advises Guan is to arrive at Augusta early.

"I remember arriving and seeing signs that said ‘Don’t walk on the grass’ and I thought, ‘This is going to be tricky’,” laughs Faldo. “It just scares you. The aura is just too much, going down Magnolia Lane. Back in 1979 at my first time it was a true invitation. I finished second in our [European Tour] Order of Merit one year and didn’t get an invite. The older boys scare you, saying don’t do this, don’t do that. I was way too much in awe of it.”

On his debut, Faldo scraped through the cutline and finished someway back of the leaders. But the experience gained would prove vital in his now famous back-to-back victories in 1989 and 1990, as well as that legendary come-from-behind victory over Greg Norman in 1996.

"So I think that’s the best thing you can do – get in early,” Faldo says, looking at Guan. “You’ll get used to the layout, where the practice facility is, the clubhouse. I suggest the first round or two, just go and enjoy it. Don’t even think about trying to make a score on a hole. Just go and play, take in the whole aura of it and then maybe over the next few days start thinking about how you play the golf course. I wouldn’t even count any numbers. Just take it in first and then concentrate on how to play the golf course.”

Guan, again, astutely deflects a question – this time about when he might turn pro – and Faldo is quick to jump in.

"There no rush,” he says. “I promise you there is no rush. Just go and win everything. When you are bored with winning everything as an amateur, then think about turning pro. I think that is the best advice I could give you.

"When I was an amateur I didn’t play any professional events and that’s one thing I feel I really missed out on because I would have loved to have played a pro event just to have gauged myself, to see where am I was at in my career,” continues Faldo, whose much heralded Faldo Series of tournaments is aimed at bridging that all-important gap between amateur and pro.

"It would have also given me the chance to play and to be the leading amateur is a really cool achievement, " Faldo says. "If you beat the American guys and become the leading amateur– and you’d probably have to shoot a couple under par – that would be a great achievement in itself.”