ITALIAN TEENAGER MATTEO Manassero holed a 12-foot eagle putt on the third play-off hole to claim a dramatic victory over South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen at the Barclays Singapore Open on Sunday.
Meanwhile, an eagle on the final hole helped Rory McIlroy win the Race to Dubai.
In his first ever play-off, Manassero showed steel beyond his 19 years as he matched the 2010 British Open winner with birdie and par on the first two extra holes and then nervelessly downed the winner at a packed Sentosa Golf Club.
In denying Oosthuizen, Manassero also clinched this season’s European money title for world number one Rory McIlroy, making him only the second man to win the merit race on both sides of the Atlantic in the same year.
It settled a marathon final day for the $6 million tournament after storm delays earlier in the week meant Manassero had to play 36 holes in Singapore’s tropical heat on Sunday.
“It’s been an extremely long day,” he said. “The adrenaline kept me going and the key I think was starting really well this morning… and the play-off was a great honour. It’s the first play-off of my career, it’s been amazing.”
Advertisement
Oosthuizen has won twice this year but he was forced to revisit the disappointment of the US Masters play-off in April, when he lost out to Bubba Watson’s famous hook shot from the trees.
Manassero, who in 2010 became the youngest man to make the cut at the Masters and also was crowned the European Tour’s youngest ever winner, is now also the youngest champion in the Singapore Open’s 51-year history.
Earlier, McIlroy eagled his last hole for a 65 and third place, three shots behind the leaders. A win for Oosthuizen was the only result which would have delayed him from taking the European money title.
“It’s an award for consistency. You need to consistently play well throughout the year no matter what events you play,” he said of the prize.
Overnight leader Thomas Bjorn finished four adrift on nine-under for the tournament, while three-time winner Adam Scott and Italy’s Francesco Molinari shared fifth, one stroke further back.
After lightning storms disrupted the first two days, players were on the course early to complete the third round and Manassero finished with a 64 to take a two-shot lead.
Organisers gambled on fine weather as they pressed ahead with the fourth round, rather than cutting the tournament to 54 holes, and under fine skies it soon developed into a duel between the young Italian and Oosthuizen.
The 30-year-old Oosthuizen made a great par save after finding water on the seventh hole, and then birdied three in a row around the turn to join Manassero in the lead at 13 under par.
Consecutive bogeys on 12 and 13 seemed to put Oosthuizen out of it — but he fired back with a chip-in birdie on 14, and when Manassero bunkered on the 15th for bogey, the scores were level again.
A fabulous chip to within two feet on 18 looked to have given Oosthuizen the outright win as he finished his round on 67 for a 13-under-par total of 271.
But under pressure on his last hole, Manassero found two huge shots to reach the green and two-putted from 60 feet to force the play-off with a closing score of 69.
On the first play-off hole, the par-five 18th, Manassero put his second shot into bunkerside rough short of the green while Oosthuizen dropped his 40 feet right of the pin.
Manassero chipped to within three feet, but Oosthuizen pushed his long putt seven feet past the hole before bravely holing out to extend the play-off.
Teeing off again on 18, the South African drove into a fairway bunker but he laid up and then arrowed his approach to four feet, as Manassero again found greenside rough and chipped to 15 feet.
As Manassero missed his putt, Oosthuizen had it in the bag, but his putt lipped out in a scarcely believable miss.
On the third hole, Manassero’s second shot rolled off a greenside bank to within 12 feet, and the Italian held his nerve to down the difficult, downhill putt.
Manassero triumphs in Singapore play-off, McIlroy wins Race to Dubai
ITALIAN TEENAGER MATTEO Manassero holed a 12-foot eagle putt on the third play-off hole to claim a dramatic victory over South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen at the Barclays Singapore Open on Sunday.
Meanwhile, an eagle on the final hole helped Rory McIlroy win the Race to Dubai.
In his first ever play-off, Manassero showed steel beyond his 19 years as he matched the 2010 British Open winner with birdie and par on the first two extra holes and then nervelessly downed the winner at a packed Sentosa Golf Club.
In denying Oosthuizen, Manassero also clinched this season’s European money title for world number one Rory McIlroy, making him only the second man to win the merit race on both sides of the Atlantic in the same year.
It settled a marathon final day for the $6 million tournament after storm delays earlier in the week meant Manassero had to play 36 holes in Singapore’s tropical heat on Sunday.
“It’s been an extremely long day,” he said. “The adrenaline kept me going and the key I think was starting really well this morning… and the play-off was a great honour. It’s the first play-off of my career, it’s been amazing.”
Oosthuizen has won twice this year but he was forced to revisit the disappointment of the US Masters play-off in April, when he lost out to Bubba Watson’s famous hook shot from the trees.
Manassero, who in 2010 became the youngest man to make the cut at the Masters and also was crowned the European Tour’s youngest ever winner, is now also the youngest champion in the Singapore Open’s 51-year history.
Overnight leader Thomas Bjorn finished four adrift on nine-under for the tournament, while three-time winner Adam Scott and Italy’s Francesco Molinari shared fifth, one stroke further back.
After lightning storms disrupted the first two days, players were on the course early to complete the third round and Manassero finished with a 64 to take a two-shot lead.
Organisers gambled on fine weather as they pressed ahead with the fourth round, rather than cutting the tournament to 54 holes, and under fine skies it soon developed into a duel between the young Italian and Oosthuizen.
The 30-year-old Oosthuizen made a great par save after finding water on the seventh hole, and then birdied three in a row around the turn to join Manassero in the lead at 13 under par.
Consecutive bogeys on 12 and 13 seemed to put Oosthuizen out of it — but he fired back with a chip-in birdie on 14, and when Manassero bunkered on the 15th for bogey, the scores were level again.
On the first play-off hole, the par-five 18th, Manassero put his second shot into bunkerside rough short of the green while Oosthuizen dropped his 40 feet right of the pin.
Manassero chipped to within three feet, but Oosthuizen pushed his long putt seven feet past the hole before bravely holing out to extend the play-off.
Teeing off again on 18, the South African drove into a fairway bunker but he laid up and then arrowed his approach to four feet, as Manassero again found greenside rough and chipped to 15 feet.
As Manassero missed his putt, Oosthuizen had it in the bag, but his putt lipped out in a scarcely believable miss.
On the third hole, Manassero’s second shot rolled off a greenside bank to within 12 feet, and the Italian held his nerve to down the difficult, downhill putt.
- © AFP, 2012
Beljan defies doctor’s orders to maintain lead>
The Sunday Papers: some of the week’s best sportswriting>
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
eagle Louis Oosthuizen Luke Donald Matteo Manassero Race to Dubai Rory McIlroy Singapore Open success