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Guan, 14, sets sights on Zurich Classic

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Only a week removed from making the cut in the season’s first major, 14-year-old Tianlang Guan is already setting his sights on his next PGA Tour event: the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

‘I’m really happy to come back here this year,’ said Guan, who accepted a sponsor exemption to the event earlier this week and spent time in the New Orleans area last summer.

After becoming the youngest player to compete in the Masters – then becoming the youngest to ever advance past the 36-hole cut – Guan shed some light on his emotions during last week’s historic rounds.

‘I was a little bit nervous on the first tee Thursday,’ he explained, having finished 58th among the 93-player field last week at Augusta National. ‘After that, everything just felt really comfortable.’

One moment that was likely uncomfortable for the teen sensation was when he was assessed a one-shot penalty during Friday’s second round for slow play, an additional stroke that nearly meant the difference between him making and missing the cut. Nearly a week later, Guan indicated that he has no plans to adjust his pre-shot routine next week at TPC Louisiana.

‘I think my routine is not bad, just the time I took to make decisions,’ he added.

After explaining that he was ‘pretty happy’ with his scores at Augusta National – four rounds during which the teen never three-putted and failed to register a score higher than a bogey on any hole – Guan shared that his pre-tournament approach will not differ much next week in New Orleans.

‘Every tournament I want to play well,’ noted Guan, who did not elaborate on Thursday’s conference call about any plans to play in other U.S.-based events this year. ‘I just want to have fun and hopefully post a good score.’