Matteo

Manassero

The four-time European Tour winner’s – including the 2013 BMW PGA Championship – struggles have been well-documented over the last few years. However, after winning the 2020 Toscana Alps Open on the Alps Tour, the Italian’s game has started to trend in the right direction. Posting seven top 20 finishes on the Challenge Tour since late June, the 28-year-old has collected notable results such as T-7 at the British Challenge, solo eighth-place at the Big Green Egg German Challenge, T-3 at the Challenge Costa Brava, and most recently T-8 at the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final. Making only the second Joburg Open appearance of his still young career, Manassero will see if his success on the Challenge Tour and Alps Tour will translate to some more on the newly named DP World Tour.

The rather frightening descent of the one-time Italian wonder kid continues apace. From winning the BMW PGA Championship in 2013 and finishing 11th in that year’s rankings he has subsequently ended the year 167th, 73rd, 114th and 122nd in the Race to Dubai and this year, with no full card, he is 282nd from 12 starts. Worryingly, he’s had just three top tens in his last five seasons. If there is a crumb of comfort it is this: In 2017 he was T9 here in Prague, spending the whole week inside the top 20 (that said he missed the cut in 2018). He was T22 in last October’s British Masters, but is 2-for-14 since with the weekend results T45 in Oman and T81 in one of two Challenge Tour starts.

The one-time Italian wonderkid is 5-for-5 in this tournament yet in truth, like his entire career, he peaked early. That was in 2012, at Golf du Palais Royal, when he shot 69-70-65 to tie the 54 hole lead. But since then he has handed in 17 cards and never once broken 70. He finished T6 that week and was T59 in 2015. Since the move to the RTJ Sr track in Rabat, however, he has gone T22, T48, T46. And then, of course, there is the small matter of his form. 1-for-9 this term with the exception T45 in the Oman Open. His last top ten was T9 at the Czech Masters in 2017, his last top five T3 in that year’s Indian Open.

His career might be in a hole, but the one-time Italian wonderkid can hardly be disappointed to be back at the DLF G&CC’s Player Course (except, of course, he’d have imagined himself a WGC regular at this point in his career). The reason for optimism is that having played the track twice he has found himself in the top five at the end of five rounds here. In 2017 he carded 68-73-72-73 to rank T3-T5-T4-T3 through the week. Then last year he again started well, this time with a 67 for T3, but 79-78-78 followed and he tumbled to T57. Form is, of course, a problem: He is 1-for-8 this season with T45 in the Oman Open his high point.

The Italian has endured a number of barren runs like this in recent years after losing his way although there are pockets of hope. Before the run started, he’d posted T22 at October’s British Masters and for the last two weeks he’s given himself the foundation for a good week although not cashed in. Manassero opened with 66 at the Saudi International before undoing all the good work with a Friday 76 which left him packing his bags early again while it was a similar, if less extreme, story in the ISPS Handa Vic Open last week when he fired 69-72. Tee-to-green, his numbers were strong in Melbourne (82.1% DA, 80.6% GIR) but he scrambled poorly (as he did in Saudi) and the putter has been cold for a while. His one previous start at Lake Karrinyup also resulted in MC in 2016 (76-73).

The Italian is three adrift of leader Thomas Pieters and just a shot back from a six-man group at 5-under which features compatriot Renato Paratore. Manassero, a teenage prodigy, lost his card last season so missed the two events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and had to rely on an invite here. He’s certainly making the most of it so far and was immediately into his stride with birdies at 10 and 11. He dropped a shot at 13 but that was his only blemish of the round and he picked up further shots at 17, 18 and 5. This is Manassero’s lowest R1 score since he fired another 66 at his home Italian Open last summer. He finished T36 there but has made just three of 16 cuts since.

It is a sign of how much the Italian achieved at such a young age that he has relatively no experience of the regular European Tour/Sunshine Tour co-sanctioned events. In fact, he has played the Nedbank Golf Challenge three times and played the short-lived Volvo Golf Champions twice at Fancourt Links (both elite field events), but has only two others appearances in South Africa – both missed cuts (at the 2015 Tshwane Open and 2016 Joburg Open). He lost his card last season and will be fighting off scraps and invitations this term. His best result in 2018 was T20 (achieved twice) and his last top ten was T9 in the August 2017 Czech Masters.

Manassero is no stranger to killing lions in this event. He eliminated Steve Stricker and Charl Schwartzel here a year ago. And he dug right in today, with wins at the first two holes and didn’t release control of the lead. He was 3 up through seven before Simpson chipped away with wins at 8 and 12. Sitting 1 up on the 15th hole, the Italian poured in a birdie, and then chased it with a victory-clinching par at the par-3 16th hole. Manassero advances to face Martin Laird on Thursday.

The Italian phenom placed T54 at Congressional in his debut in the major last year. He turned in a pair of 3-under-par 69s today to post 138 alongside Peter Lawrie (67-71), Raphael Jacquelin (70-68), Matthew Baldwin (67-71) and Sihwan Kim (66-72). Ultimately, Kim was the odd man out in extra holes; he will serve as the first alternate from this site. At 9-under 135, Alex Noren (67-68) and Marc Warren (70-65) shared medalist honors. A quintet shared third place at 7-under 137: Soren Kjeldsen (68-69), George Coetzee (66-71), Gregory Bourdy (67-70), Mikko Ilonen (66-71) and Lee Slattery (71-66). Eleven golfers in all punched tickets for the Olympic Club in San Francisco.