After Masters mark, Guan set for Zurich Classic
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, April 17, 2013
Chinese teenager Guan Tianlang, fresh off his Masters debut at the record-setting age of 14, accepted a sponsor's exemption to next week's Zurich Classic in New Orleans, tournament organizers said on Monday.
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Guan completed his first Masters on Sunday with a final round 3-over 75 to finish 12-over par. |
Guan, who had qualified for the Masters as the Asia-Pacific Amateur champion, earned low amateur honors at the year's first major after a 73-75-77-75 set of rounds left him with a 12-over 300 total.
The Chinese prodigy had no three-putts during the tournament and nothing worse than a bogey on his scorecards. A one-stroke penalty for slow play in his second round was his only hiccup.
He spent a month in the New Orleans area last year and has practiced at Lakewood Golf Course not far from TPC Louisiana, venue for the April 25-28 Zurich Classic.
Meanwhile, Park In-bee took over the top spot in the women's golf ranking on Monday, ending Stacy Lewis' four-week run at No. 1.
Park moved ahead of American Lewis eight days after winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship for her second major title and second victory of the year. The 24-year-old South Korean also won the LPGA Thailand in February.
"This is a very big day in my golf career," Park said on Monday at the LPGA Lotte Championship in Hawaii. "I'm so happy to share it with my family, who are here in Hawaii with me. It's nice to reach this goal, but I know a lot of players are close to No. 1. It gives me something else to play for every week."
Lewis dropped to second, an average of 0.04 points per event behind Park in the two-year standings.
Chinese Taipei's Tseng Yani remained No. 3. She was No. 1 for 109 weeks before Lewis grabbed the top spot with consecutive victories in Singapore and Phoenix, Arizona.
Park is the eighth player and the second South Korean - after Shin Ji-yai - to hold the No. 1 spot. Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa, Ai Miyazato and Cristie Kerr also have topped the ranking.
Last year, Park won twice on the LPGA Tour, had six runner-up finishes, topped the money list and took the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average.
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