Matteo Manassero on top after the first round of Open de Andalucia in Spain
The 18-year-old Italian prodigy is on the rampage again, and as late as it may have come in the current year, Matteo Manssero is all set to lift another European Tour title here at Open de Andalucía in Spain.
The young gun rolled out an impressive eight-under, 64 on the opening day of the event, surging past the rest of the field with a strong three stroke lead.
He said, “It’s my first time at Aloha. This course suits my game because it’s not long, and I don’t need to hit 300 yards to reach the par fives. You need accurate shots and a good strategy, and I enjoy this type of course. The key today was my putting.
I made a couple of 20 footers and placed the ball on the right spots”.
Starting off from the front, Manassero pulled in three birdies up to the sixth hole before he fell for the lone bogey of the round at par-four, 7th. He carded two more birdies before making the turn.
The back nine proved to be equally prolific for the young Manassero. He carded a birdie on the 10th and closed his bid with three more towards the end.
He added, “You have to put the ball in play and then do well around the greens. I did pretty much everything right apart from one shot”.
Young Manassero turned professional in the year 2010 and won his first European Tour event, Castelló Masters Costa Azahar in Spain to become the youngest winner in the European Tour history.
He made the cut in the Masters in 2010 to become the youngest player to make it through the halfway mark in the history of the coveted event.
Five players were tied for the second spot, with an aggregate score of five-under, 67 including Spaniard Eduardo de la Riva, South African Hennie Otto, Englishmen Anthony Wall and Lloyd Kennedy, and Swede Niclas Fasth.
Fasth is facing a tough situation at the moment and will have to perform well than what he has been doing in the last one decade to retain his tour card.
Member of the former Ryder Cup team which lifted the title at The Belfrey ten years ago is now relying on his earnings in all these years to retain his playing status on European Tour.
Meanwhile Miguel Angel Jimenez, co-host of the event, finished for a joint 13th alongside Englishman Robert Rock who won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship earlier in the season.
Several top-ranking players are on the verge of falling out of the top-50 on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) including Manassero and Rock, and both players are hoping for a strong finish to make it to the Masters next month.
Mike Weir, who is making a comeback after a wrist surgery, carded an opening round of 68.
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