Filipino age-group golf stalwart Lucas de Guzman went through the wringer before crowning himself the Boys 8-years-old champion in the US Kids State Championship at the DeBell Golf course in Burbank, California, recently.

Just turned eight, De Guzman bested Francis Besinga of La Mirada, California, via playoff after both turning in one-under-par 70.

Making the victory all the more remarkable was the fact that De Guzman was the youngest in the field.

It also came right after De Guzman’s US Kids State Regionals triumph in Los Serranos where he ruled the Boys’ seven-year-old category with five-under-par 67 round.

It was an unexpected win for De Guzman, a Homeschool Global student, who took on the sport at a very young age under the watchful eyes of Pinoy golf legend Artemio Murakami.

De Guzman regularly plays at Eastridge Golf and Country Club, playing frequently with fellow junior golf champ Marc Kristoffer Nadales.