Matteo Manassero

Manassero was born in Negrar, in the Province of Verona, and took up the game at the age of 3 1/2 when he hit balls on a driving range. After a short period at the Villafranca Golf Club, he joined the Gardagolf Country Club in Soiano del Lago and started training with Franco Maestroni.
In 2009, at 16 and 2 months old, he became the youngest and first Italian winner of the British Amateur Championship, defeating England's Sam Hutsby 4 & 3 in the final. The win qualified him for the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry. Playing with Tom Watson and Sergio Garcia in the first two rounds of the Open, he made the cut. He finished T-13th, becoming the youngest winner of the Silver Medal awarded to the leading amateur.
Manassero topped the World Amateur Golf Rankings at the end of 2009 and remained No. 1 for 18 weeks until he was removed from the rankings upon turning professional.
On April 9, 2010, he beat Bobby Cole's record to become the youngest player ever to make the cut at the Masters, at 16 years, 11 months, 22 days. He was nearly two years younger than Cole was when he made the cut at the 1967 Masters. Manassero was surpassed by Tianlang Guan, who became the youngest player to make the cut in Masters and PGA Tour history at 14 years, 5 months, on April 12, 2013. Manassero finished T-36th in what was the best performance by a European amateur in 73 years. He announced that he would turn professional shortly after the Masters, about two weeks after his 17th birthday. He officially turned pro on May 3, 2010, then made his professional debut at the BMW Italian Open.
His first win came on October 24, 2010, at the Castello Masters Costa Azahar in Valencia, Spain, where he won by four strokes over Ignacio Garrido. The victory at 17 years, 188 days made him the youngest-ever winner on the European Tour, surpassing the record set by Danny Lee at the 2009 Johnnie Walker Classic. The victory also secured full European Tour playing privileges for the next two seasons. Manassero posted another strong result with a T-2nd at the 2010 UBS Hong Kong Open, one shot behind winner Ian Poulter. He won the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award in 2010.
Manassero secured his second European Tour win at the Maybank Malaysian Open on April 17, 2011, at the age of 17 years, 363 days, putting him first and second on the list of youngest European Tour winners. With the win, he climbed to 33rd in the World Rankings, becoming the second-youngest player among the top 50, just behind Ryo Ishikawa.
2012 Notes: Set another record when he won the Barclays Singapore Open, becoming the first teenager to win three European Tour events. Went up against Louis Oosthuizen in a playoff and won it with an eagle at the third extra hole. Finished the year 13th in The Race to Dubai.
2013 Notes: At the age of 20 years, 37 days, he won the BMW PGA Championship, making him the youngest winner of that championship. He defeated Simon Khan on the fourth extra playoff hole and, with the win, climbed to 28th in the Official World Rankings. (He was not the youngest into top-30. That honor goes to Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy, and Jordan Spieth). The following week, he finished T-4th in the Nordea Masters. Went on to finish the year 11th in The Race to Dubai and dropped to 43rd in the World Rankings.
2014 Notes: He played in 24 DP World Tour events, making 17 cuts. He placed 60th in the Race to Dubai and earned euro 576,836. He had three top-tens: T-10th Volvo Golf Champions, T-8th Valspar Championship, and T-4th Aberdeen Asset Scottish Open. He played in 24 events on the European Tour, making 18 cuts. He finished 60th in the Race to Dubai.
2015 Notes: Played in 22 events, only making the cut in five of them. His best finish was T-18th at the Volvo China Open; after finishing T-46th at the BMW PGA Championship, he did not make a single cut, missing 13 straight around the world. He was 167th in the Race to Dubai as he only earned euro91,763.
2016 Notes: He played in 27 DP World Tour events, making 12 cuts and one top-ten finish. He was 73rd in the Race to Dubai and earned euro471,71. After missing 8 cuts in his first 12 starts, he had a T-12th at the Nordea Masters, his best finish since finishing T-4th at the 2014 Scottish Open. To top all of that with a T-3rd at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, it was his first top-3 since his 2013 BMW PGA Championship win. The good finish at Stuart Castle got the Italian one of the last berths in the Open Championship, where he missed the cut. He ended his season finishing T-55th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
2017 Notes: He played in 23 DP World Tour events, making 14 cuts and two top-ten finishes. He was 114th in the Race to Dubai and earned euro333,947. He was T-3rd at the Hero Indian Open and T-9th at the D+D Real Czech Masters.
2018 Notes: He played in 26 DP World Tour events, making 14 cuts. He was 122nd in the Race to Dubai and earned euro261,285. His best finish was T-20th at the Volvo China Open and Rocco Forte Sicilian Open.
2019 Notes: Only made one cut in 18 starts, T-45th at the Oman Open. He lost his DP World Tour card and played the Challenge Tour in 2021, '22 and '23.
2023 Notes: Played in 23 Challenge Tour events and made 16 cuts with two wins. He was 9th in the order of merit with earnings of euro 147,879. He won twice at the Copenhagen Challenge and the Italian Challenge Open; he earned his European Tour card for 2024.
2024 Notes: He played in 30 DP World Tour events, making 20 cuts with two top ten finishes. He was 12th in the Race to Dubai and earned euro1,676,797. It was his best season on the DP World Tour since 2013, and it earned him an exemption to the PGA Tour for 2025.
He returned to the DP World Tour and finished T-5th at the Investec South African Open, four shots back of the winner, Dean Burmester. Returned to the winner's circle at the Jonsson Workwear Open by three shots over Jordan Smith, Shaun Norris, and Thriston Lawrence. Was T-5th at the Hero Indian Open and T-7th at the KLM Open. In the fall was T-6th at the Betfred British Masters and 3rd at the Amgen Irish Open, two shots back of the winner Rasmus Hojgaard. It was also his best finish on the DP World Tour since finishing T-3rd in the 2017 Hero Indian Open. Was T-4th at the BMW PGA Championship, three shots back of the Billy Horchel/Rory McIlroy/Thriston Lawrence playoff. Ended his season with a T-30th finish at the DP World Tour Championship.
2025 Notes: Best finish, T-6th at the RBC Canadian Open.