14 Year-Old Golf Phenom Guan Tianlang Is Chosen To Play In The Memorial Tournament!

Eat your heart out, Tiger Woods! There’s a new kid on the block, and his name is Guan Tianlang!
Ok, we might be exaggerating a little bit here! But Guan is certainly turning heads as the amateur golfer recently made the cut for HUGE tournaments such as the Masters and the Zurich Classic!
As if these accomplishments weren’t impressive enough on their own, what’s really catching people’s attention is that Guan is only 14 years-old!!!
Now the phenom has been hand-picked by golfing legend Jack Nicklaus to play in his annual Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio at the end of the month!
Guan responded to the exciting news, saying:

“It is Jack Nicklaus’ event, and the same as all the golf fans out there I have very high respect to Mr. Nicklaus, not just as a golf legend, but also as a great person. He has been actively involved in the development of golf in China, and junior golf development worldwide, and as a junior golfer myself I appreciate what he has done to help us grow. My parents and I got the chance to meet him in person at the Masters, and that was one of the highlights of my week at Augusta National.”

Jack also said he was excited to have him in the tournament, and said he’s an important figure in developing the game’s growth internationally:

“I have found (Guan) to be mature beyond his years and very passionate about his development in the game. Winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur was a great achievement in and of itself, but his maturity, composure and competitiveness in these two significant events sends a message that this young man has a wonderful future. For the growth of the game internationally, he is a role model for all aspiring Asian amateurs, as well as young boys and girls around the globe, so it is only appropriate to give him another opportunity to compete on a world-class stage.”

Looks like there’s a good chance chance we’ll be hearing a LOT more from Guan in the future!
We don’t quite remember what exactly we were doing when we were in eighth grade, but we’re willing to bet it wasn’t nearly as impressive as this! LOLz!!
[Image via Tom Pennington/Getty Images.]