Watch highlights of 14-year-old Guan Tianlang’s first round at the Zurich Classic

At the Masters it was the cute, headline-catching story. Guan Tianlang, a 14-year-old amateur, was not only playing at Augusta National but was playing well. Despite a questionably penalty on Friday, Tianlang made the cut at the Masters and won low amateur honors, something nobody expected when the week started.

Now the story is becoming reality. Tianlang accepted an invite to the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, and made the trip to play in his second PGA Tour event with the big boys. The idea was the subject of our Teeing Off debate this week, and while it seemed like it would be fun to see him out there again, people still doubted if he could keep his good play going.

Boy how dumb were we? Tianlang shot an opening round even-par 72 on Thursday, with highlights above. The 14-year-old started off with a bogey, made another at No. 6, and then played his final 12 holes at 2-under.

The story just keeps getting better, and if he is able to make his second cut in a row on the PGA Tour, we might have to stop looking at him as the Cinderella story and more as a boy that has a game that could seriously compete against the best in the world.

Devil Ball Golf – Golf – Yahoo! Sports