An Australian prodigy likened to Cam Smith and impressed by Ben Hogan will make his debut on the PGA Tour in an occasion starting on Friday morning AEST on the Silverado Resort in California.
Simply over eight years after successful the membership championship on the Bexley Golf Membership in Sydney as a 12-year-old, former newbie star Jeffrey Guan will tee off within the A$9 million event within the Napa Valley that includes top-line expertise together with compatriot Min Woo Lee.
The New South Welshmen displayed important promise as a teen and joined Adam Scott, Ryan Ruffles and Kiwi Grant Waite as the one participant to efficiently defend the Australian Boys’ Newbie title when profitable by 4 pictures in 2022.
That adopted a triumph on the Adam Scott Junior Championship in the US, the place he performed a number of junior occasions in his late teenagers, when an eight shot winner over a discipline of fine depth. He later completed fifth within the US Junior Newbie occasion.
A consultant of the Worldwide workforce within the Junior Presidents Cup in 2022, he recorded three high 10 finishes on the Challenger PGA Tour later that yr as an newbie and was added to the Golf Australia Rookie Squad in February this yr.
In an interview in 2022 Guan, who’s rated a thought of thinker on the golf course eager to eradicate threat the place potential, advised Golf Australia he was impressed by American legend Ben Hogan, a nine-time main winner who died seven years earlier than the Aussie was born.
In the identical function, the director of instructing at The Australian Golf Membership Tony Barter described Guan as a “one in ten yr” kind of expertise.
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“That’s completely to not say he’ll go on to be that as a touring skilled. However as a younger bloke, he has that Adam Scott, Aaron Baddeley, Matt Jones capacity that catches your eye,” Barter stated.
“By way of Jeffrey as a participant, he’s a bit like Cameron Smith in that he doesn’t have a standout function in his sport, however equally he simply doesn’t have a weak spot.
“The participant that he really jogs my memory of, not when it comes to swing or putting particularly, is definitely Craig Parry. I used to play with `Paz’ as a junior and in any respect these tournaments we used to play, the vibe was he wasn’t a lot to have a look at — till you noticed his scorecard. And everyone knows what Parry went on to do.
“Generally folks overlook what event golf is all about — it’s that scorecard, nothing else. You don’t must swing it like Adam Scott, however you must get it within the gap like him. And I feel that’s what Jeffrey does extraordinarily properly for somebody his age and stage.”
Guan has signed with administration firm Sportfive, which counts Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson amongst these on its books, and has obtained a sponsors invitation to step out within the Napa Valley in a discipline additionally that includes Max Homa, Wyndham Clark and Sahith Theegala.