While Guan Tianlang flabbergasted viewers when he made the cut at last week's Masters tournament, his record as the youngest ever player on the European Tour will be short-lived.

The 14-year-old Tianlang became the youngest player ever to compete in a European Tour event when he competed at the Volvo China Open last year at the tender age of 13 years and 177 days, but tournament organisers confirmed on Wednesday that the 12-year-old Ye Wocheng will tee off at the same event in a fortnight's time.

Should Ye make the cut at the Lion Lake Golf Club in two week's time, he will break the record for the youngest player ever to do so at a European Tour event, beating the record Jason Hak set at the Hong Kong Open in 2008 aged 14 years and 304 days.

While the spotlight will be on Ye in Tianjin, a group of young Chinese players are taking part in the event, including Guan, Andy Zhang - who became the US Open competitor at the age of 14 last year - the 15-year-old Bai Zhengkai - the winner of the Volvo China Junior Match Play Championship last year - as well as the 16-year-old American Jim Liu, who became the US Junior Amateur champion at 14 years of age in 2010.

However, a strong contingent of professionals will also take part in the joint OneAsia and European Tour event, including former champion Paul Casey, Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley and India's Jeev Milkha Singh.

"I'm especially looking forward to seeing how young Ye Wocheng gets on, and I know that there are plenty of other youngsters who are soon going to be household names," McGinley revealed in a tournament press release.

Leading the Chinese contingent is world 170 Liang Wenchong, the country's top ranked player and one of only two to win on the European Tour.

"Obviously I would love to win my own national Open, but I know the challenge is getting ever greater as our home-grown talent is improving all the time," Liang said.

The 12-year-old Ye qualified for the tournament by winning a qualifying event earlier this year, while Zhang and Guan are both participating as sponsor's invites.

Golf 365