Amateur Breaks Record As Youngest Male To Make Cut On Major Tour

The 14-year-old etched his name into the history books at this week's Asian Tour stop

 Hsieh Cheng-wei lining up a putt at an Asian Tour event
(Image credit: Twitter: @asiantourgolf)

Hsieh Cheng-wei became the youngest player in history to make the cut on one of the leading male professional circuits with his performance at the Asian Tour's Yeangder TPC. 

At just 14 years and 33 days old, the amateur from Chinese Taipei fired rounds of 69 and 74 to post a one-under total and make it through to the weekend at his home course of Linkou International Golf and Country Club. 

The previous record was held by China's Tianlang Guan, who famously made the cut at the 2013 Masters when he was 14 years and 169 days old despite being assessed a controversial one-stroke penalty for slow play on the penultimate hole of his second round.

Hsieh trails halfway leader Chapchai Nirat by 10 shots, following the 39-year-old's 64 on Friday. Locked in a four-way tie for second is America's Berry Henson, who took to Twitter to congratulate his fellow competitor.

Despite the magnitude of his achievement, Hsieh admitted he struggled during his second round, adding that nerves nearly got the better of him as two late bogeys threatened to derail his bid to make history.

"My calculations weren’t accurate today," the 14-year-old told AsianTour.com. "I didn’t putt well. Didn’t hit it good off the tee especially on the back nine. It’s not that tough out there.

"I just didn’t play my best game. I got nervous towards the end because I wasn’t playing well. I didn’t have much expectation though. I just try to play my best."

Andrew Wright
Freelance News Writer

A lifelong golf fan, Andy graduated in 2019 with a degree in Sports Journalism and got his first role in the industry as the Instruction Editor for National Club Golfer. From there, he decided to go freelance and now covers a variety of topics for Golf Monthly. 

Andy took up the game at the age of seven and even harboured ambitions of a career in the professional ranks for a spell. That didn’t pan out, but he still enjoys his weekend golf at Royal Troon and holds a scratch handicap. As a side note, he's made five holes-in-one and could quite possibly be Retief Goosen’s biggest fan.

As well as the above, some of Andy's work has featured on websites such as goal.com, dailyrecord.co.uk, and theopen.com.

What's in Andy's bag?

Driver: Callaway Mavrik Sub-Zero (9°)

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus (15°)

Driving iron: Titleist U500 (17°)

Irons: Mizuno mp32 (4-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM9 (50°, 54° and 58°)

Putter: Titleist Scotty Cameron Newport 2.5

Ball: TaylorMade TP5x