Matteo Manassero In The Bag: The Singapore Open Winning Clubs

19-year-old Matteo Manassero made an eagle at the third play-off hole against Louis Ooshuizen to win the Barclays Singapore Open and become the only teenager to ever win three European Tour titles.

The duo finished the rain affected 72 holes tied on 13-under and parred the first play-off hole, before the South African horse-shoed a four-footer for the title on their second time down the par-5 18th.

The Italian took full advantage and made a 12-foot eagle on the last for the win.

Rory McIlroy finished third on his own, a result good enough to secure him the Race to Dubai title, which replaced the European Tour’s Order of Merit in 2009, with two events still to play.

A large percentage of the third round had to be finished at first light on Sunday and Manassero, who had 15 holes to complete, was in a group of seven players at five-under, four shots behind Bjorn.

He began with four successive birdies and added two more on his back nine to sign for a bogey-free seven-under 64 and a two-shot advantage over Oosthuizen, with McIlroy in a share of 13th seven shots adrift.

McIlroy carded four birdies in addition to his eagle to propel himself up the leaderboard into the third place he required to secure the Race to Dubai crown.

Ooshuizen forced the pressure on the Italian with a birdie at the 18th after a superb pitch to within a foot, but Manassero forced a sudden-death play-off by two-putting from 60-feet for a closing birdie, before going on to seal the title at the third time of asking.

The 19-year-old had spent the build up to the tournament practising in Abu Dhabi and he was quick to highlight the role world-class facilities at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, Saadiyat Beach Golf Club and Yas Links played in his thrilling victory.

“Taking time off to practice in Abu Dhabi last week helped me win what’s arguably the toughest tournament victory of my career,” said Manassero. “That little bit of downtime helped get my mind focused and my game in great shape ahead of what is always a highly-competitive end to the European Tour season.

“It’s a great win against some of the biggest names in the game and I’m thrilled. I’m already looking for the next gap in my calendar so I can get back out to practice in Abu Dhabi!”

Manassero moves up to 13th in The Race to Dubai standings – with season earnings of €1,493,688. Notably, Manassero’s win at Sentosa Golf Club pushed him through the €1million mark for single European Tour season earnings for the first time.

“Matteo is on course to become one of the game’s great players over coming years,” said Faisal Al Sheikh, Events Manager, TCA Abu Dhabi. “For someone of such tender years, his achievements are simply extraordinary. He is a big favourite with local galleries and we cannot wait to welcome him back to the emirate ahead of next year’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.”

Here are the clubs the young Italian used to claim his third European Tour win:

Driver: Titleist 913 D2 Driver 8.5 Graphite Design Tour AD shaft
Fairway woods: Titleist Prototype 913
Irons: AP2 Forged 712 Irons
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Wedges
Putters: Scotty Cameron Putter
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Golf Ball