Matteo Manassero conquers the BMW Pga Championship and with this amazing victory he becomes number one in Europe and number 30 in the world.
After four days, 72 holes and 278 strokes (-10) on the long and difficult course of the Wenthworth Club, of Virginia Water, in Surrey in England, Matteo manages to find the concentration and strength to beat the Scottish Marc Warren and the English , Simon Khan (winner in 2010), in a play-off on the 18th hole with the sudden-death formula, meaning whoever doesn't tie the best result is out.
The first to yield is Warren, who on the first hole hits the ball to the right, into the bushes. Manassero and Kahn instead challenge each other again for three holes, a boy and a man twice his age, both determined not to give up. In the end Matteo manages to be more effective, more precise in decisive putts. On the fourth playoff hole Khan goes into the water and Matteo takes the par 5 green with 2 strokes: two putts are enough for a more than deserved victory, the fourth of his recent and brilliant career. A success that confirms the very high level of his game, but also the strength of character and maturity of this boy who has won two play-offs out of two played in his career.
Looking at him, so determined, so calm, he seems older than his age, even if his smile betrays all the freshness of his twenties. And then there are the statistics to remind us that he is little more than a teenager: the youngest winner of the BMW Pga Championship in 58 years of life, as the European Tour website writes. A sporting achievement, but also a big check from pocket: 791,660 euros which, added to what he won this year, brings him to a total of 1,055,491 euros, at the top of the Race to Dubai, the European Tour classification, ahead of Graeme McDowell with 1,029,186 euros.
These are truly incredible results, achieved in Italy only by Costantino Rocca (and not at the age of twenty), with 5 victories in his career, including a Pga Championship in '96.
A success that brings with it a series of benefits such as access to the most important tournaments, such as The Open Championship for the next three years, the US Open 2013 and the next World Golf Championships.
"I'm the happiest man in the world - he said at the end of the race - it was a fantastic week and I'm grateful to this wonderful audience that has followed us in these days".
Over one hundred thousand spectators flock to the English lawns, ready to applaud their favorites even in desperate climatic conditions, given that on the second day, it rains, it is windy and it's six degrees Celsius. The rooting is largely for Lee Westwood, the English champion who moved to Florida this year to play permanently on the American tour. However, Westwood is once again betrayed by the putter and, despite being in the lead after 54 holes, in the end he has to settle for ninth place. Same fate for Francesco Molinari, at the top after 36 holes and then overwhelmed by a bad third round. In the end he closes with an honorable -7 and a very dignified top ten. Nineteenth position for his brother Edoardo Molinari, 62nd place finally for the fourth Italian left on the field, Alessandro Tadini. These are excellent results for Italian golf, given the small number of practitioners compared to Anglo-Saxon countries or Spain. Achievements that demonstrate the great level of the Italian school and that also bode well for the Olympic destination of Rio de Janeiro.
