Matteo Manassero Player Profile And What's In The Bag

Matteo Manassero produced a comeback win for the ages when he claimed the Jonsson Workwear Open at Glendower in South Africa. It was his first win on the main tour in almost 11 years and it came after many had written off the Italian. 

He produced a masterful final round of 66 for a 72-hole total of 262, 26 under par, to beat England’s Jordan Smith, Thriston Lawrence and Shaun Norris by three shots.

• Player Profile
• Last 10 Events
• Key Stats
• World Ranking
• What's In The Bag

He famously made the cut at The Masters as a 16-year-old amateur and then became the DP World Tour's youngest winner at the age of 17 years and 188 days at the 2010 Castello Masters Costa Azahar - a record he still holds.

When he lifted the trophy at the 2013 BMW PGA Championship for a fourth victory in as many seasons, it looked like he had the golfing world at his feet.

But after going in search of more distance from the tee, five years later he found himself without full playing privileges and in the 18 starts he made in 2019, he made just a single cut, and ended up taking a break from golf.

He won on the Alps Tour in 2020 and last season he won twice on the European Challenge Tour to reclaim his card after five years. 

"This is the best day of my life on a golf course for sure," said Manassero, who finished his round with four birdies. "It's been a crazy journey over the last couple of years. I knew that I was getting on the right track but then you never know.

"Even coming down the 18th with a good tee-shot, you still have to do some work. Golf is a really difficult and tough game so I am just so incredibly happy to be here holding this trophy right now.

"I think I played really good golf today basically the whole round. It's really hard. The guys behind were playing some incredible golf and every time you look at the leaderboard there is a different name with more birdies.

"Every time during a round of golf you have some times that if you can go through them you see light and then the finish was amazing."

The Italian had to endure a weather delay after hitting his tee shot on the 17th and while he found the sand with his second just under two-and-a-half hours later, a stunning bunker shot to three feet handed him a two-shot lead heading down the last.

And with the daylight almost all gone, he holed an eight-footer on the 18th green for a fourth birdie in a row and a comfortable win. Incredibly, he is still only 30 years old.

This was the final week of the DP World Tour's International Swing, with Rory McIlroy - who won a third Rolex Series title at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and finished second at the Dubai Invitational - topping the standings.

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

Player Profile

Manassero was born on April 19, 1993 in Verona and started playing golf aged three with a set of plastic clubs.

At 16 he became the youngest winner of the Amateur Championship in 2009 before taking the silver medal for low amateur in the 2009 Open Championship, where he partnered eventual runner-up Tom Watson and Spain’s Sergio Garcia for the first two rounds. He finished in a tie for 13th place.

He broke another record in April 2010 when he became the youngest player to make the cut at The Masters, where he finished in a tie for 36th place - the best performance by a European amateur for 73 years.

He turned professional and became the youngest winner in European Tour history with victory in the 2010 Castello Masters at 17 years and 188 days and was named rookie of the year.

In 2011 Manassero secured his second win at the Malaysian Open at the age of 17 years and 363 days, making him first and second on the list of youngest DP World Tour winners.

After winning the Singapore Open in 2012 he became the first teenager to win three times. He also collected a second place at the Andalucia Open and had five more top 10 finishes.

In 2013, Manassero won the biggest tournament of his career, the BMW PGA Championship, with a birdie at the fourth extra hole of a playoff against Simon Khan and Marc Warren, becoming the youngest-ever winner of this tournament. With the win Manassero gained the right to play in the 2013 US Open and entered the top 30 of the world rankings. He also managed to further improve his final Order of Merit position with an 11th place.

He was the second youngest full European Tour Member in history after his idol, the legendary Seve Ballesteros.

Then it all began to go wrong. He managed just one top-10 finish in 2014 and missed 16 cuts in 2015. He eventually lost his playing privileges on the DP World Tour but won twice on the Challenge Tour in 2023 to regain his card. His victory in South Africa takes him to 13th in the Race to Dubai.

Last 10 Events

Jonsson Workwear Open - 1st

SDC Championship - T36th

Qatar Masters - CUT

Bahrain Championship - T35th

Ras Khaimah Championship - CUT

Dubai Desert Classic - CUT

Mauritius Open - CUT

Alfred Dunhill Championship - CUT

South African Open Championship - T5th

Joburg Open - 66th

Key Stats

Driving Distance - 292.45 Yards

Driving Accuracy - 49.03%

Greens in Regulation - 66.48%

Sand Saves - 63.16%

Putts Per Round - 29.07

Scoring Average - 71

End of Year World Ranking Position

2019: 1,333

2020: 916

2021: 389

2022: 463

2023: 351

What's In Matteo Manassero's Golf Bag?

Titleist TSR3 10.0 Driver

Titleist TSR2 15.0 Fairway Wood

Titleist T200 4 Iron

Titleist T100 5-P Irons

New Vokey Design SM10 50.08F, 54.10S, 58.08M Wedges 

Scotty Cameron Squareback 2 Tour Prototype Putter

Titleist Pro V1x Golf Ball