Manassero sets no goals, 'just to enjoy this beautiful experience'

PHILIP REIDhears from Italy's Matteo Manassero, who, in his last event as an amateur, will become the youngest to play in a Masters.

TIME AND time again, we’re told that experience, rather than youthful exuberance, is what counts around this course at Augusta National.

Matteo Manassero, the precocious Italian teenager, seeks to change the weight of historical statistics in this 74th US Masters, when, at the ripe old age of 16, he will claim the distinction of being the youngest player to participate in this major. His is a name for the future.

What of the present? He has already arrived. Last year, Manassero captured the British Amateur title – which earned him a ticket to the British Open, where he finished tied-12th – and the young boy who once upon a time performed chipping routines for his hero Seve Ballesteros has earned his right to grace the same terrain where the Spaniard was a maestro.

Manassero’s first meeting with Ballesteros was as a four-year-old, when the Italian Open was played at his home course in Verona. He was already hooked on the sport at that age, forever pestering his parents to take him to the driving range. On that meeting, Ballesteros asked the young boy to take a few chip shots and amazed him by promptly holing out with a shot.

Now, as a plus-five handicapper with a career on the pro ranks on the horizon, Manassero is poised to join an Italian renaissance, as it were, on tour that also boasts the Molinari brothers, Francesco and Edoardo.

The Molinaris have taken Manassero under their wings, but the teenager – who turns 17 in a fortnight – has also picked the brains of none other than Tom Watson.

After finishing as low amateur in the British Open at Turnberry last July, the youngster asked the old master if it would be possible to play a practice round with him at Augusta National. The date was fixed, and last Monday Manassero played 18 holes with Watson, joined by Rory McIlroy for nine of them.

“Obviously, he knows the course better than any other,” said Manassero of Watson. “He gave good advice, like where to put the ball and where not to go. He advised me where the wrong zones were, and showed me the good zones.”

Manassero isn’t your typical teenager, nor your typical Italian. He doesn’t possess a fiery Latin temperament, and his golf game is based more on the principles espoused by Bernhard Langer.

“My strength has always been my regularity, keeping the ball in play always. I’m not a long hitter, so I put the ball on the fairway and on the green. That’s my game and my strength.”

Any weakness?

“Sometimes I have to improve my putting, that makes me a little mad sometimes.”

When Lee Westwood learned on Tuesday that he would be in the same group, he approached him in the locker-room. “Hi, partner,” greeted Westwood, and the two then settled down to watch the Barcelona-Arsenal match on the TV in the players’ lounge.

Although young, he exudes the confidence of someone older. Manassero is, as he put it this week, living “a dream”.

This will be his last event as an amateur, as he takes the step into the professional ranks with a debut appearance lined up for the Italian Open next month.

“I wish to finish as high as I can, but I have no goals. I just want to enjoy this beautiful experience, this beautiful place, and take as much experience as I can.”

The Masters may represent his final act as an amateur, but it is the start of a new and exciting journey that has the sky as its limit.

Back nine

Hole Yards Par

10 Camellia 495 4

11 White Dogwood 505 4

12 Golden Bell 155 3

13 Azalea 510 5

14 Chinese Fir 440 4

15 Firethorn 530 5

16 Redbud 170 3

17 Nandina 440 4

18 Holly 465 4

In: 3,710 yards, par 36

Front nine

Hole Yards Par

1 Tea Olive 445 4

2Pink Dogwood 575 5

3 Flowering Peach 350 4

4 Flowering Crab Apple 240 3

5 Magnolia 455 4

6 Juniper 180 3

7 Pampas 450 4

8 Yellow Jasmine 570 5

9 Carolina Cherry 460 4

Out: 3,725 yards, par 36