Name: Matteo Manassero
Country: Italy
Date of Birth: April 19, 1993 (Age 17)
Turned Pro: May 2010
Matteo Manassero, from Negrar in the province of Verona, is the newest young gun in the golf world, making waves and breaking records left, right and center. In 2009, he became the youngest ever winner of the British Amateur Championship. He followed that up by winning the Silver Medal as the leading amateur when he tied for 13th in the Open Championship at Turnberry. And if that is not enough to impress, this year, at the ripe old age of 16 years, 11 months and 22 days, he became the youngest player ever to make the cut in the US Masters.
In May, he became the second-youngest professional in European Tour history. Only Seve Ballesteros qualified younger than Manassero. He then made his debut at his home event, the BMW Italian Open, where he finished a creditable 29th. While Italy might not be a country renowned for producing golf stars, in Manassero it appears they have produced a player who is going to be headline news for a number of years
to come. Indeed, he is already front page news in La Gazetta dello Sport—Italy’s best-selling sports newspaper—which had barely heard of golf until Tiger Woods came along.
With charm, charisma, movie star good looks and iron play that will take your breath away, Manassero is already being touted as “Europe’s new Seve.” Their names even share that sexy Latin rhythm. If you are one of the few who have not yet heard of young Matteo, keep your eyes on the golf news.
There is no doubt we will see a lot more of this young golfing maestro...
