.
It was... he declared... a nickname he wore with pride. ~ After all, though his game is that of a far more seasoned player, Matteo Manassero is only seventeen.
As such, his win yesterday at the Castelló Masters made him the youngest European Tour winner in history. ~ Matteo's reaction when asked how he'd spend his €333,330 earnings was disarmingly... um...youthful:
In addition, the newly minted champion earned a start in next fortnight's $7m WGC-HSBC Champions event... and the assurance of a place in the season-ending $7.5m Dubai World Championship after moving to 44th on the money list.
Matteo also won the tournament's cute, kissable trophy (above)... though he didn't get nearly so intimate with the whimsical award as Michael Jonzon did last year. (Matteo just kissed the little guy's hand)
Early this year I wrote about the Italy's emerging golf excellence, about the Italian Golf Federation's dedication to growing the game, and particularly about extraordinary coach, Alberto Binaghi who has nurtured the talent and passion of Matteo Manassero from the start. Signore Binaghi has quite a bit to be proud of today.
This is really cool - it's amazing how good these young guys are at such an early age. Interesting point about the state of Italian golf - they do seem to be producing some talents.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post! Love the way that you are covering the European scene and the amazing players in Europe right now!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like Matteo is keeping things in perspective despite going professional at such an early age. Hopefully he'll be able to stay that way despite the amazingly quick successes.
ReplyDeleteManassaro is indeed an exceptional golfer but we here in the US need to make sure we support our young players too... the rest of the world is doing it and we don't want to wake up in a few years to find that we're way behind.
ReplyDeleteYou know what's great about my paisano Matteo?? This kid is the real, real deal I think. He tied for 13th in the British Open and tied for 36th at The Masters this year.
ReplyDeleteMuch like Alexis Thompson, you don't need to go down a board too far to find his name!!
Here's a US kid (who hails from about 10 miles from where I'm sitting,) who looks like another young lion- given whose record he surpassed (Tiger's.)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.golfweek.com/news/2010/jul/24/liu-14-becomes-youngest-us-junior-champ/
It looks like Jim Liu IS going to be big, thanks Ducks, I'll definitely be watching for him in the future. Love Lexi, Matteo, Ryo... and the others we talk about when we invoke "hopes for the future of golf".
ReplyDeleteI love the side-by-side trophy kissing photos. They both look pretty into it, LOL. What's the story on that odd little trophy anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe youth movement is amazing. Matteo is but another example. To win at 17 on a major tour is simply incredible.
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