Guan Tianlang is a prodigy with a club but father says he's a normal teen
15-year-old has taken the golf world by storm but has his feet planted firmly on the ground, says proud dad Guan Hanwen
Guan Tianlang is out on the driving range in Fanling belting balls under the watchful eye of his dad, Guan Hanwen. China's teenage prodigy who created a stir at the US Masters this year when he became the youngest competitor at 14 years, six months and then made the cut - is hard at practice.
The 15-year-old had missed the cut at last week's Hong Kong Open, but had stayed on with his parents, to enjoy a little bit of the city away from the public glare back home in Guangzhou now that he is being talked about as the Tiger Woods of China.
His dad scoffs at that. "My son has achieved more than what Tiger did when he was at the same age. Yes, Tianlang idolises Tiger, but he wants to walk his own path and achieve his own goals, and not follow Tiger," says Hanwen.
Hard to argue with that, for Tiger wasn't making the cut at the US Masters when he was 14, nor did he qualify and compete in an international tour event at the age of 13, as Guan did when he made it to the Volvo China Open in 2012.
Eyebrows have been raised at Guan's emergence. Critics say it is a crime that parents push their children at such a young age into the harsh world of golf. Guan, now 15, is still an amateur, but he is being treated as a professional, and is being hailed as China's next big sporting star.
He has more than two million followers on weibo account and his face is recognised by millions on the mainland.