Tag Archives: cheng-tsung pan

Whose ring is it anyway?

A brief departure from China for this week’s Sports Talk column to discuss one of the best – and most unusual – sport stories of the year: the non-Fellowship of the Ring. It turns out this story made news at the time eight years ago, with media asking back then if it Putin had stolen it. Kraft stuck to the script, but, eight years later, is apparently fed up and wants the ring back. Putin has since insisted through a spokesman it had always been a gift. It’s hardly a case for the ICC, but it will be interesting to see if there are any further developments. Here’s the piece:

It’s been a good week for unexpected sports stories.

Continue reading Whose ring is it anyway?

Taiwan’s new star: Cheng-Tsung Pan [UPDATED]

When I wrote this profile of Cheng-Tsung Pan earlier in the week, it wasn’t because I thought he would win the US Open – he’s a 21-year-old amateur golfer who’s a sophomore at the University of Washington, after all – but because he’s a great story: the caddie mother, the father who taught him golf from books, arriving in the US on his own without speaking a word of English, and now one of the best amateur golfers in the world.

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Cheng-Tsung Pan: 5’6″ but packing a punch at the US Open

Fearless prediction: he’s still not going to win the rain-delayed US Open, but it looks like he will make the cut by a mile. When bad light stopped play on Friday, he was halfway through his second round and standing at even par, 2-under for the day and one shot off the lead.

One. Shot. Off. The. Lead.

Continue reading Taiwan’s new star: Cheng-Tsung Pan [UPDATED]

Taiwan’s answer to Guan Tianlang

Last November, when 14-year-old Chinese golfer Guan Tianlang won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship to become the youngest player ever to qualify for the Masters, another young golfer missed out by the narrowest of margins. In second place, a single shot behind, was Taiwan’s Pan Cheng-tsung, who fired a stunning 65 to close the tournament, six shots better than Guan’s final round.

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