A very rich man on a golf course reportedly had a helicopter deliver him a bowl of wontons during the middle of play, just because he could. And he was really hungry, probably.

As told by environmental celebrity Huang Xiaoshan on his Weibo and relayed by Guangzhou Daily, Huang and a friend were playing golf on a course near Xiaotangshan in Beijing when they saw a helicopter fly overhead and land. The man who ordered the take-out was apparently the boss of a big company — a company that owns helicopters, it appears.

Did he at least wave those behind him to play through? We wonder.

(H/T Bill Bishop)

“Golfer from China.” “Chinese golfer.” “Asian.” Hell, just stick with “14-year-old.”

“Chinaman”?

“Dude, Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature,” notes Timothy Burke of Deadspin, who pulled the above clip from a newscast in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Apology forthcoming in 3… 2….

Guang Tianlang, by the way, finished his debut Masters tournament at 12-over, alone in 58th place. Of the 61 players who made the cut, he’s the only one who will make no money, due to his amateur status. It’s pretty safe to say he’ll be back, and will take home boatloads of money in the future.

Louisiana TV Station Refers To Guan Tianlang As A “Chinaman” (Deadspin)

Guan Tianlang accomplished two historic firsts in the second round of the Masters yesterday. He made the cut, becoming the youngest player to do so in any major (he was, after all, the youngest player to ever participate in any major). And he was assessed a stroke-penalty for “slow play” on the 17th hole.

“He became the first player, by all accounts, in the 77 times they’ve held this tournament, to be assessed a penalty for slow play,” writes ESPN’s Gene Wojciechowski.

Guan, the amateur from Guangzhou, China, deserved better than to spend most of his afternoon in a room near the Augusta National grille dining area sweating out his weekend fate. And he definitely deserved better than a one-stroke penalty on the next-to-last hole of his round — in a major — at a place that has no record of ever assessing that kind of penalty.

One of the great Masters feel-good stories of all time almost got T-boned by the letter of the golf law. But then, the stopwatch of rules official John Paramor was wrestled to the ground by fate.

In the interview above with Tom Rinaldi, Guan said he “respects the decision.” Good for him. He took the high road, and later discovered he made the cut anyway. Karma does right.

Guan’s overall score of four-over entitles him to two more days at Augusta. Good for golf fans.

Guan Tianlang is precocious. He is a star. We’re not sure if he knows this and is simply playing the role of establishmentarian golf prodigy to a tee — with understated self-assessments washed with humility, a genial confidence — or is just being himself, but judging by his post-round quotes, he doesn’t feel at all uncomfortable in the spotlight as the biggest story in this year’s biggest golf tournament. Sergio, who? Marc Leishman, who? Tiger, who?

Quote:

“People were very nice to me. And I feel comfortable on the course.”

Quote:

“I felt a little bit nervous on the first tee,” Guan said. “But I hit a great tee shot and, after that, everything feels comfortable. … I just had fun today. Pretty much fun.”

Quote:

“The people are nice and some of the times they are cheering for me and it feels great,” said Guan, who was jokingly asked by one journalist if he’d like to meet his eighth-grade daughter.

Quote:

“I think I will do pretty much the same way,” Guan said of his second-round hopes. “I will try to relax and focus on my game. Hopefully, I can hit a couple of good shots and I will see how things go.”

But it’s not all false modesty. Kid knows what he’s doing, and where he wants to be:

“I think probably not this year,” he said, “but I think I can win it in future.”

Everyone is smitten, understandably. Deadspin has a roundup of Guan coverage. Reuters has a hole-by-hole summary.

After shooting an opening round 73, he sits in 46th place and is exactly at the cut line at one over par. He tees off for his second round at 9:06 pm China time (9:06 am ET).

Do you still need a reminder he’s 14?

His press conference:

Any reference to Chinese golf sensation Guan Tianlang inevitably mentions his age, and rightly so: the kid is just 14 and, in 14 and a half hours (12:24 am local time), will become the youngest ever to play in the Masters by a full two years. But in a reworking of an old sports cliché, age is temporary, class is permanent.

Guan Tianlang was born to play golf. He has already been in the sporting spotlight for at least eight years, but the factor that has been consistent is his ice cool temperament. Those around him talk glowingly of his level-headed manner, and ESPN’s Gene Wojciechowski described Guan’s expression as he qualified for the Masters by winning last year’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship as “somewhere between comatose and a guy reading federal tax code.”

If that all sounds a little, well, dull, remember that in golf, boring wins tournaments. That could all change, of course, once the millions start pouring in, and Guan discovers things like girls and nightclubs (see: Woods, Tiger), but for now, golf is his life and he seems to be enjoying it. He’s had practice rounds at Augusta with many of the game’s top players, posting pictures of his playing partners both on Twitter and Weibo, and happily engaging online with his growing army of followers.

Guan won’t win the Masters anytime soon. For one thing, he hits the ball far, far shorter than most of the pros, and at a course like Augusta, that’s not going to cut it. But he’s left no stone unturned in his preparation, and has a decent chance of finishing as the top amateur, if only an outside chance of making the cut.

A lot of people have noted that Guan uses a controversial belly putter – a snide way of explaining away his talent. But aside from the fact that recent major champions Ernie Els, Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson have all used them, it’s worth pointing out that Guan only converted to the belly putter after relocating to the US and picking up the habit there. Blame the rulebook if you like, but don’t belittle a 14-year-old Chinese kid for adopting an American trend.

Future success, of course, is not guaranteed: for every Tiger Woods and Phil Mickleson, who have converted strong amateur careers into even better professional ones, there’s a Mitch Voges or an Eric Meeks who have remained in obscurity in the amateur ranks.

But Guan Tianlang isn’t alone. Along with fellow Chinese youngsters Andy Zhang and Ye Wocheng, aged 15 and 12 and also playing in top-level pro tournaments, Guan is leading golf’s next power shift. They, and others, are almost exclusively relocating to the US to hone their skills, and are lucky enough to come from families who can support them until the sponsors take notice. But, one way or another, Chinese golf is on the rise.

Greg Norman said in 2010 that within 20 years, East will be beating West in golf. At the time, that seemed wildly optimistic. Right now, though, it’s looking pretty conservative.

Mark blogs at The Li-Ning Tower. Follow him on Twitter @DreyerChina

Chinese golf prodigy Guan Tianlang, 14, is set to become the youngest player ever to play at the Masters — he tees off on Thursday at 12:24 pm Georgia time. But the youngster has already been busy on the links at Augusta, it appears. Behold, his Twitter account, @Guan_Tianlang (we can safely call it “under the radar,” with only 199 followers). His five tweets — including his first on April 3 — have been more or less what you’d expect out of a golf savant who’s spent most of his life absorbed with this game. We also get a glimpse of Guan as 14-year-old: humble, wide-eyed, possibly a little starstruck, but also trying to act like a competitor.

Here, in chronological order, Guan’s first five tweets:

I have been in Augusta, Georgia for few days. People here are very nice and make me feel very comfortable. twitter.com/Guan_Tianlang/…

— Tianlang Guanさん (@Guan_Tianlang) 2013年4月3日

Practiced with formal #1 Luke Donald at the range, then we played 4 holes together.he gave me some tips on shots. twitter.com/Guan_Tianlang/…

— Tianlang Guanさん (@Guan_Tianlang) 2013年4月6日

I also played with Mr. Singh. He is very friendly and has incredible shots twitter.com/Guan_Tianlang/…

— Tianlang Guanさん (@Guan_Tianlang) 2013年4月6日

Oh wow.. Mr Mickelson’s present is very powerful and positive. with his encouragement, I made a 16ft birdie putt. twitter.com/Guan_Tianlang/…

— Tianlang Guanさん (@Guan_Tianlang) 2013年4月6日

Look Ms. Rice came to play golf today twitter.com/Guan_Tianlang/…

— Tianlang Guanさん (@Guan_Tianlang) 2013年4月8日

Enjoy Twitter, Tianlang. You won’t be able to access it once you return to China*.

*Unless he gets a VPN, but we think he’ll be too preoccupied with golf to bother.

Also see: Guan Tianlang poised to make history at the Masters at the vanguard of Chinese golf