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Day leads at Masters, 14-year-old makes cut

Guan Tianlang chips to the first green on Friday during the second round of the Masters. At 14 years old, he became the youngest to make the cut in a PGA Tour event despite an unusual one-stroke penalty.
Tiger among many in striking distance

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The 14-year-old from China isn’t going anywhere in a hurry. And this Masters is still a long way from taking shape.

Despite being the first player at Augusta National to get hit with a one-shot penalty for slow play, teen sensation Guan Tianlang still made history Friday as the youngest player to make the cut in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.

And it came down to the last shot of a wild and windy day.

Jason Day could have sent the kid home early with a birdie from just off the front of the green on the 18th hole. But the Australian was wide left and tapped in for par, giving him a 4-under 68 and a one-shot lead over fellow Aussie Marc Leishman and the ageless Fred Couples.

The par meant that Guan, who had one shot added to his score on the 17th hole for his second bad time of the round — made the cut under the 10-shot rule.

“If I can make it, I would be really happy for it,” Guan said some five hours earlier. “But if I didn’t make it, it’s still a great week.”

He’s now part of a weekend at Augusta that should be as dynamic as ever.

Day was at 6-under 138, and 18 players were within four shots of the lead, including Tiger Woods.

Woods moved into a share of the lead with a two-putt birdie on the eighth hole, and his game looked to be as sharp as ever — perhaps too sharp. Right when it looked like he might take the outright lead, Woods hit a lob wedge that was so perfect it hit the flag on the par-5 15th and caromed backward off the green and into the water. Instead of having a short birdie putt, he had to scramble to save bogey.

Woods posed over another shot on the 18th and was stunned to see it hop onto the upper shelf, leading to his second three-putt bogey of the week. He had to settle for a 71, though he was still only three shots out of the lead.

“My score doesn’t quite indicate how well I played today,” Woods said.

Day, a runner-up at the Masters two years ago, can be one of the most exciting players in golf when his game is on, and he was firing at flags from everywhere Friday.

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