( CNN ) -- He became the youngest player in European Tour golf history after teeing off at the China Open and Guan Tian-Lang 's record-breaking round was below par -- but not in a good way . The 13-year-old struggled as he joined the big boys at golf 's top table , ending his opening round on five-over-par to sit 149th in a field of 156 . Guan , from Guangzhou , endured a nervous start to his historic round as he joined the likes of Englishman Ian Poulter , who finished seventh at this month 's Masters , competing for the $ 3.1 million tournament prize fund . He made three bogeys and one double bogey in his first six holes and ended the day 12 shots behind leader Matthew Baldwin , from England . But despite Guan 's baptism of fire , playing partner Marcus Fraser , who ended the day two shots off Baldwin , said the schoolboy has a bright future ahead of him . `` I could n't believe I was playing with a 13-year-old -- I am old enough to be his dad , '' Australian Fraser told the European Tour 's website . `` It 's pretty scary actually -- I thought I was still quite young . `` He was very impressive for someone who is 13 and a half years old . He hits it long off the tee and hits a lot of very good shots . `` His putting is good and he has good routines . You can see he is very competitive too which you need to be . If he keeps on the path he is on then he can be a great player . `` To be that age and be able to play at this level is amazing . I felt lucky to be out there with him because if he keeps going he will be in the top ten in the world pretty comfortably . `` He is very mature , very driven but he is not being pushed into by his parents -- he wants to go out there and play and improve and that is the main thing . `` A lot of kids get pushed into things but that is not the case here . He really wants it and it is pretty cool to see that in someone so young . '' After shedding his early nerves , Guan was more consistent in the second half of his round and shot level par on the back nine . But despite his indifferent start , there 's no taking away Guan 's title as the youngest player at a European Tour event -- breaking the record set by by Taiwan 's Lo Shih-Kai -- who was 103 days older when he played at the 2003 Hong Kong Open . The youngster now faces an uphill battle to fulfill his dream of becoming the youngest player to make the halfway cut and give himself a chance to qualify for the second major of the golf calendar -- the U.S. Open in June . If successful , he would break the record set by compatriot Jason Hak who was 14 years and 304 days old when he played at the 2008 Hong Kong Open . Guan will have his work cut out if he is to catch 25-year-old Baldwin at the top of the leaderboard , after his bogey-free opening round . Although a rookie on the European Tour , the Englishman showed no signs of inexperience as he carded seven birdies at Binhai Lake Golf Club in Tianjin . There is a six-way tie for second a shot behind Baldwin -- with his compatriot Gary Boyd , Dutchman Joost Luiten , Scott Strange of Australia , Jean-Baptiste Gonnet from France , Swede Fredrik Andersson-Hed and South African Jbe Kruger all hot on his heels . Poulter finished on one-under-par while former top ten player Paul Casey , also from England , was on four-under .
Guan Tian-Lang is youngest player in the European Tour 's history , teeing off at Open . The Guangzhou schoolboy fails to keep up with elite field , finishing opening day June . Youngster is 12 shots behind leader Matthew Baldwin who is on 12 -under-par . Performance casts shadow over Guan 's hopes to make cut and qualify for Guangzhou Open in June .