In October, Italy’s Matteo Manassero became the youngest ever winner on the European Tour after his victory at the Castellon Masters in Spain. At 17 years and 188 days, he was one year and 25 days younger than previous record holder Danny Lee from New Zealand, who won the 2009 Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia as an amateur.
Manassero’s four-shot victory earned him a two-year European Tour exemption in just his 10th full Tour event since turning professional in May.
Later in the year, he tied for second in the UBS Hong Kong Open one shot behind winner Ian Poulter, and was named European Tour Rookie of the Year.
Born in Negrar, near Verona, he became the youngest ever winner of the British Amateur Championship in 2009 at the age of 16. The victory qualified him for the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry where, playing alongside Tom Watson and Sergio Garcia in the first two rounds, he made the cut and won the silver medal as leading amateur, eventually finishing 13th.
Manassero topped the world amateur rankings for the first 18 weeks of 2010, during which time at the US Masters he famously beat Bobby Cole’s 1967 record and became the youngest player ever to make the cut at Augusta, at 16 years, 11 months and 22 days.
