Matteo Manassero’s Golf Revival Story: A Chance to Write the Best Chapter Yet
Matteo Manassero, the Italian golfer who was once hailed as a prodigy, has lived a long and winding life in golf. According to a report by Golf.com, Manassero’s journey has been marked by incredible highs and lows, but he is now on the verge of writing the best chapter yet in his remarkable golf story.
In 2009, at just 16 years old, Manassero became the youngest ever to win the British Amateur. A month later, he finished T13 at the Open Championship, just four shots outside of the playoff between Stewart Cink and Tom Watson. As noted by Golf.com, he was the No. 1 ranked amateur in the world by year’s end and became the youngest to ever make the cut at the Masters the following April. He turned pro and won four times on the European Tour, including the 2013 BMW PGA, where he outplayed Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els, Lee Westwood, and Francesco Molinari. He rose to No. 25 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
However, Manassero’s game fell off dramatically. He registered just one top-10 finish in 2014, made just six cuts in 2015, and was no longer a card-carrying European Tour member by 2018. As reported by Golf.com, the smooth-swinging Manassero cobwebbed his sticks briefly after losing his joy for the game. He took time to reflect, not just on golf and his career, but on life – about what he wanted out of it. He looked for happiness outside of golf, met his wife, Francesca Apollonio, and eventually found himself rebuilding his golf game from the ground up.
In 2020, Manassero could only play on the Alps Tour, European Golf’s third division. However, it was there that his great golf revival began. In September of 2020, Manassero won the Toscano Alps Open, which moved him up to the Challenge Tour. Two years later, in 2023, Manassero won the Copenhagen Challenge and Italian Challenge Open to get back to the DP World Tour. As Golf.com reported, last March, Manassero fully reemerged, winning the DP World Tour’s Jonsson Workwear Open in South Africa. That win helped him earn his PGA Tour card for the 2025 season through the DP World Tour’s Eligibility Pathway.
Manassero’s great golf revival story isn’t done being written yet. After firing a third-round 64 on Saturday at the RBC Canadian Open, Manassero, who is tied for the 54-hole lead with Ryan Fox, will have a chance to pen arguably the best chapter of his resurrection on Sunday at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. As quoted by Golf.com, Manassero said, “It’s definitely made me more mature and much better perspective towards golf, which at one point was everything. The results-oriented, which I discover being not a very good thing for my game and for me. So I switched away from that, and I try to get a good attitude, a good thought process, talk well to myself.”
Sunday’s round will be a big one for Manassero. A PGA Tour win means an invite to the Masters, the PGA Championship, and the Players, as well as a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour. However, Manassero’s journey into the golfing abyss taught him not to focus on the prize at the end. As reported by Golf.com, being hyper-focused on the results is what started his spiral. Through his journey back, a new mentality has emerged – one he will lean on Sunday as he looks to best a leaderboard filled with journeymen who have not accomplished what he has or stared down the demons he did.
Matteo Manassero’s golf revival story is a testament to his determination and perseverance. With a chance to write the best chapter yet on Sunday at the RBC Canadian Open, Manassero will look to draw on the lessons he has learned and make the most of this opportunity. As Golf.com noted, Manassero’s story is far from over, and it will be exciting to see how it unfolds.
In conclusion, Matteo Manassero’s golf revival story is an inspiring one, and he is now on the verge of achieving a major milestone. With his sights set on Sunday’s round at the RBC Canadian Open, Manassero will look to make the most of this opportunity and write the best chapter yet in his remarkable golf story. According to Golf.com, Manassero’s journey is a reminder that with hard work, determination, and the right mindset, anything is possible.
Source: Golf.com – Matteo Manassero’s golf revival story could get its best chapter yet on Sunday in Canada.
By Josh Schrock, Golf.com Editor.
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