Phenoms
A 14(!)-year-old just became the youngest male golfer to make the cut on a major tour
As expected, the Internationals look in big trouble after Day 1 at this week's Presidents Cup. On the bright side, they could have a major talent heading their way in a couple years. And he'll even be able to legally drive a car by then.
Introducing Hsieh Cheng-wei, a 14-year-old who made history on Friday morning by becoming the youngest male golfers to make the cut on a major tour.
The Chinese-Tapei phenom followed up an opening 69 at Linkou International in his home country with a second-round 74 to advance to the weekend at the Yeangder TPC by a couple shots.
At 14 years and 33 days, Hsieh broke the record of someone with whom golf fans should be familiar. Guan Tian-lang made the cut at the 2013 Masters—despite incurring a rare two-stroke penalty for slow play—when he was 14 years and 169 days.
Hsieh, who is playing the event on his home course, was his own toughest critic after the round.
“I didn’t putt well. Didn’t hit it good off the tee especially on the back nine," he told AsianTour.com. "It’s not that tough out there. I just didn’t play my best game. I got nervous towards the end because I wasn’t playing well. I didn’t have much expectation though. I just try to play my best."
Of course, as we've seen with Guan, who wound up playing collegiately at the University of Arizona and is currently No. 1,917 in the Official World Golf Ranking, early success doesn't necessarily mean future stardom. And, again, this is his home course. But we don't want to dampen Hiseh's big accomplishment.
Hopefully, he's enjoying a nice celebratory pop right now. A nice soda pop, that is.