Matteo Manassero won the BMW PGA Championship today at Wentworth in Surrey, England. This is already his 4th career victory on the European Tour and he’s only 20 years and 37 days old, making him the youngest PGA Champion and first Italian winner of the event. The previous youngest winner was Bernhard Gallacher of Scotland at 20 years, 97 days old in 1969. It was an exciting conclusion, with three players tied at 10-under par by the end of the tournament.
After the first playoff hole, Scotland’s Marc Warren was eliminated, leaving only Manassero and 2010 champion Simon Khan to play for the championship. After 4 playoff holes, Manassero was able to close out the championship with a huge drive and then a great lag putt for eagle that gave him an easy tap-in birdie victory. Khan unfortunately found the water on the 4th playoff hole. It was a tough tournament with difficult conditions during the first two days that led to Ryder Cup stars Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell missing the cut.
We were lucky to have seen Matteo Manassero play in person during the 2010 UBS Hong Kong Open at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling, Hong Kong. The event was eventually won by Ian Poulter, with Manassero finishing T-2. He was around 5’7″ when we saw him that year and he’s said to be near 6’0″ tall now! Take a look at his swing above from that tournament during his warm up before the final round! You can also hear from Manassero in the RLX Pros series about “The Role of Confidence,” “Overcoming Fear,” and “Tools of a Champion.”
Source: European Tour
