Top News

Manassero, 17, becomes youngest Euro Tour winner

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-26 08:02

Matteo Manassero from Italy poses with the championship trophy after winning the final round of the Castellon Masters Golf Costa de Azahar at the Castellon's Club de Campo, Spain, on Sunday. Alberto Saiz / Associated Press

Italian teen golfer eclipses 18-year-old Danny Lee

CASTELLON, Spain - Matteo Manassero did just as advised by his fellow Italian Edoardo Molinari when the 17-year-old became the youngest winner on the European Tour on Sunday.

"Edoardo sent me a very encouraging message this morning, saying it would be a very important day and that I should enjoy it," the teenager told a news conference after his unique victory in the Castello Masters.

Enjoy it he did, capturing the lead with an exhilarating run of three birdies from the 13th to subsequently eclipse the field by four strokes.

His remarkable success while still a schoolboy will boost Italy's standing further, he said. The country was already on a high following the feats of the Molinari brothers, Edoardo and Francesco, who helped Europe to win back the Ryder Cup three weeks ago.

"This win is good for Italian golf as it adds to Edoardo and Francesco's great performances," the youngster said.

Manassero's resounding success will hoist him comfortably into the world's top 100, and it has come in only his 10th event as a professional.

He had a modest 29th-place finish when he turned pro in early May at his home Italian Open, but his potential had been shown in the amateur ranks.

Manassero was the youngest winner of the amateur silver medal, finishing 13th in the 2009 British Open, and in April this year became the youngest to make the cut in the US Masters, where he finished 36th.

"When I played alongside Tom Watson in the (British) Open, it was the best experience I'd ever had - until now," said Manassero.

It was apt that the Italian achieved the record, aged 17 years 188 days, at the Mediterraneo course in Castellon, the club to which Castello Masters promoter Sergio Garcia belongs.

Garcia was another to shake the golfing world when he won two tour titles in 1999, finished second in the US PGA Championship and third on the European money list when only 19.

But while Manassero basked in the limelight of a debut win worth nearly half a million dollars, 30-year-old Garcia, struggling badly with his game, had to sit out the weekend having missed the cut.

The previous youngest tour winner was New Zealand's Danny Lee, who was 18 when he triumphed at the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth, Australia, in February 2009.

Manassero started the day two shots behind leader Gary Boyd, but a red-hot homeward nine and a collapse by the Briton set up victory for the teenager.

He closed with a four-under 67 for a 16-under total of 268 to win comfortably from Spain's Ignacio Garrido (68), whose late spurt earned second place.

"It feels fantastic, I've always worked for this moment and I've finally done it," Manassero told Sky Sports.

"I was very nervous at the start and I didn't have a great time of it from the eighth to the 11th, but then I hit some great shots coming in."

"The key was saving par with a great putt on the 12th. From 12 to 15 I made the most of this tournament," added Manassero, who trailed Boyd by two strokes with six holes to play.

The teenager, who missed a 15-inch birdie putt at the par-five eighth, strung together three successive birdies from the 13th and Englishman Boyd's sudden loss of form made the closing holes fairly simple for the youngster.

Reuters