The young Italian golf star Matteo Manassero redefines history at Accenture Match Play
The young rising professional golfer from Italy, Matteo Manassero has surprised the world of golf with his excellent ability and the skill which he depicts on the golf course. He has already achieved great success in his amateur career and was leading the
World Amateur Golf Rankings in 2009 for 18 weeks. He will be participating in his debut Professional Golfer’s Association Tour tournament of WGC Accenture Match play starting from today at the Ritz Carlton in Arizona.
The Italian who is just 17 years old, changed his status to professional last year in May. He marked his first win playing on the European Tour in October, 2010. Manassero also wrote his name in the history books of golf and has not yet played on the PGA
Tour as a professional. He is currently placed at 57th in the World Golf Rankings. The teenager is paired against the experienced veteran Steve Stricker of the USA.
He will again post his name in the record books when he plays in the Match Play Championships. Manassero will be the youngest player to be playing in this tournament. The previous record was set by Japanese Ryo Ishikawa who was just 18 years old.
Matteo has surpassed many records set in the past and is extremely talented to play on this level. He has played the Masters last year, but his status was an amateur. The Italian again marked his name in the record books by becoming the youngest player to
play all the four rounds. Manassero finished at tied 36th last year at the Masters and has also produced some brilliant scores on the European Tour.
The youngster Manassero will be playing against the experienced Stricker and the match will be an interesting one. This will be the experienced versus the young talent, which is expected to produce fireworks. Mind you, Stricker is the second eldest player
in this championship after Miguel Jimenez, but it will be raw talent against experience in this match.
Stricker has had an impressive run while playing the Match Play format. This was seen last year at the Ryder Cup, where he won 3 out of 4 points for the Americans. The confident teenager, Manassero is not bothered about Stricker’s past performances, as he
is rather focused and waiting to play against the World Number eight and give him a tough time.
The Italian also surprised the Irishman Rory McIlroy after they played together in the practice rounds before the tournament. Matteo in his pre-tournament interview said, “The Molinari brothers have guided me a lot and now I feel comfortable playing in front
of huge crowds and I can compete with these guys.”
Manassero marked his first European Tour victory last year at the Castelló Masters Costa Azahar and had top five finishes both at the Hong Kong Open and the Omega Masters. He has also been named the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year in 2010.
A few experienced and top notch golfers were surprised and pleased to see the talented youngster playing on the PGA Tour. Manassero is all charged up for his match with Stricker and will look to take on the challenge laid down by the American.
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