Top 40 players in the Official World Golf Rankings – Matteo Manassero
31 – Matteo Manassero
Matteo Manassero was born on 19th April 1993, and is a professional Italian golfer. Manassero, who holds the honour of being the youngest winner on European Tour, was born in Negrar, the province of Verona. He spent his early teens working with
Italian national golf coach Alberto Binaghi and was ready to get on the international scene when he was in his mid-teens.
Manassero first felt the spotlight about a month after turning 16 when he played in the BMW Italian Open on the European Tour as an amateur. Over the next few months, he finished inside the Top 20. The Italian cemented his place as one of the brightest new
players in golf. He was still 16 when he defeated England’s Sam Hutsby in the final, to become the youngest ever winner of the British Amateur Championship.
The 18-year-old also won a silver medal and finished tied for 13th
place in the 2009 Open championship, playing alongside Tom Watson and Sergio Garcia. Later that year he topped the World Amateur Golf Rankings and remained number 1 for 18 weeks until he turned professional.
In 2009, Manassero was part of a small delegation of golfers who addressed the International Olympic Committee (IOC), urging the IOC to accept golf as an Olympic sport.
In 2010, Manassero broke Bobby Cole’s 43-year-old record to become the youngest player ever to make the cut at the Masters Tournament. Manassero at the time was 16 years and 22 days, nearly two years younger than Cole at the 1967 Masters.
The Italian made his professional debut at the age of 17, featuring in the BMW Italian Open. The Castello Masters Costa Azahar in Valencia, Spain was his first victory; the player beat Ignacio Garrido en route to his victory. As a result of that win, Manassero
became the youngest ever golfer to win a European Tour beating Danny lee’s previous record.
In 2010 UBS Hong Kong Open, Manassero was one stroke behind Ian Poulter and tied for second. In the same year, he won Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year. His second European Tour win came in 2011 while he was still 17 years of age, making him the first
and second on the list of youngest European Tour winners.
Manassero is also a role model for young golfers. He has backed Abu Dhabi Golf Club's plans to develop young talent through its Future Falcons program.
“The age of top pros is decreasing all the time, so it is more important than ever to develop young golfers,” said Manassero, who represented Abu Dhabi Tourist Authority. Watched by dozens of junior golfers keen to emulate their hero, Manassero played the
18th hole of the tournament course in Abu Dhabi to promote the program.
Although he has had success at such a young age, Manassero does not seem to take any undue pressure from the fact. On the contrary, it is the very thing that drives and motivates his young mind to perform at the highest level. Manassero still has a long
way ahead of him, all he needs to do is keep on concentrating on his game and not let anything else deter his focus.
Will he be the youngest ever golfer to top the Official World Golf Rankings? Only time –something that the Spaniard seems to have enough of– will tell.
Tags: