Matteo won the Jonsson Open with a total score of -26. His last success on the DP World Tour was eleven years ago
Ten years, ten months and a couple of hours longer than expected due to a storm that interrupted the game at the most beautiful moment. This is what Matteo Manassero had to wait for to return to success on the DP World Tour, the top European golf circuit. In South Africa, the 30-year-old from Veneto won the Jonsson Workwear Open with a total of 262 shots (68 61 67 66, -26). For the Italian, who hadn’t won on the DP World Tour since May 26, 2013 (Bmw Pga Championship), it is the fifth career success on the circuit. In Edenvale, near Johannesburg, Manassero took the lead in the second round, when he achieved his best round of his career (61 shots for a -11 on the day), and never let it go again except for a brief moment during the last lap when he was overtaken by Thriston Lawrence. In the final, four consecutive birdies were decisive, keeping the chasers at a distance. In second place, three strokes away (-23), a trio made up of Lawrence, the other South African Shaun Norris and the Englishman Jordan Smith.
the manassero route
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The success that had been missing for 3942 days brought happiness to Manassero’s heart: “The best day of my life on a golf course. Now I want to get over these emotions”. On May 26, 2013, he triumphed in England in the BMW PGA Championship, the most prestigious tournament on the circuit, reaching 25th place in the world ranking. After the records, the already child prodigy of Italian golf has however lost its way. In September 2020, starting from the bottom, he made the Toscana Alps Open (Alps Tour and Italian Pro Tour) his own. Then, in 2023, he achieved an encore of victories on the Challenge Tour, taking first the Copenhagen Challenge in Denmark and then, in Sutri (Viterbo), the Italian Challenge Open. So, he regained the full “card” to play on the DP World Tour 2024. And now he is back to winning and dreaming on the most important European circuit in a fundamental year also in view of the Paris Games. After his debut in Rio de Janeiro 2016, Manassero aims to play his second Olympics. This success should earn him more than 150 positions in the world rankings. An Italian hadn’t won on the circuit since September 2022, when Guido Migliozzi scored in the Open de France.
the other Italians
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Andrea Pavan’s performance was also very good, finishing in eleventh place with 270 (-18). Further back Lorenzo Scalise 35th (-13) and Francesco Laporta 71st (-4)
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