Player Profile

“I’m definitely proud of what I’ve been through. It’s wonderful to experience these emotions again on a golf course.”

One of the brightest talents in the game will head to Sun City with very fond memories of South Africa in general, as the country that welcomed him back into the DP World Tour’s winner’s circle once again.

Manassero won The Amateur at the age of 16 and was immediately hailed as a golf prodigy. He finished tied 13th in The Open while still an amateur in 2009, and in 2010 became the then youngest player to ever make the cut at The Masters while still 16 years of age.

He turned professional and won in his rookie season on the DP World Tour, adding a victory every year thereafter through to 2013.

But his career suddenly entered a difficult period in which he lost his DP World Tour playing privileges, and was also in danger of losing his love for golf.

He returned to the mini tours of Europe and began to completely rebuild both himself and his career.

The Italian won twice on the HotelPlanner Tour in 2023, but his biggest breakthrough came in South Africa in 2024.

At Glendower Golf Club, Manassero won the Jonsson Workwear Open by three strokes to claim his first DP World Tour victory in 11 years.

It was a fairytale victory for a player who first started the game at the age of three with a set of plastic clubs.