While many young stars shine brightly only to fade away, Matteo Manassero has defied the odds. The Italian has successfully navigated a comeback from the depths of golfing despair to this season’s DP World Tour. But what’s next?
It’s hard to believe Matteo Manassero is still just 30 years old. This year marks his 14th season as a professional in a career which has seen him rise to the top of sport, before a sharp descent back down. It wouldn’t be a disservice to call him a veteran of the game; he’s seen it all.
The Italian first burst on to the scene back in 2009 when he became the youngest ever winner of the British Amateur Championship at the age of 16. A year later, he was a DP World Tour champion. Back then, life seemed to move faster than Ferrari World’s Formula Rossa ride.
But as the age-old saying goes, ‘what goes up, must come down’. Possibly a little harsh on Manassero, but the last decade hasn’t been what we expected. He lost his Tour card, dropped outside the top 1000 players in the world, and he even took a short break from the sport.
However, the 2013 BMW PGA Championship victor won twice on the Challenge Tour in 2023, and subsequently regained his DP World Tour playing status for 2024. While he’s still a long way from his dizzying heights of being a top 25 player in the world, he’s making great progress towards returning back to his very best.
“The battle was tough at times, but you know, it was a journey,” said Manassero of earning back his card. “It was a long process that I had to re-build and re-do a lot of things. I had good people around me.
“There were tough times, but there were also really good times. Working in the right direction is pleasing, so it wasn’t always that tough, but at times it was difficult, that’s for sure. When the result doesn’t come and you’re stressed on the golf course and nothing comes your way, when you’re not feeling great, it’s not easy.
“I guess, always in the last three or four years I stepped away from the golf course and had a plan to move forward. That definitely kept me going.”
The time period Manassero mentions stretches back to the 2020 where – despite only playing six times that year – he managed to clinch a victory. It came on the Alps Tour at the Toscana Alps Open and served as hope for the future.
The following few seasons after that triumph the Italian continued to battle away on the Challenge Tour and despite a few top ten finishes here and there, missed cuts were still all too common. It’s a Tour that has decent prize money, but only if you’re contending every week.
The world of professional golf isn’t always synonymous with private jets and mansions; it also entails big expenses that can burden aspiring top-level pros. Manassero experienced this first-hand, even after nearly winning €800,000 for his 2013 triumph at Wentworth. In 2019, during the last period he held a DP World Tour card, he managed just one cut throughout the entire season, earning a modest €6,900 in prize money.
“No, in the last few years I didn’t,” replied the Italian when I asked if he ever thought about quitting the sport. “I had a time where I had to take a break, but not even in that time I thought I was going to stop golf. I just thought I needed a break, and that’s it, but I knew I was coming back.”
Indeed, the four-time DP World Tour winner made a triumphant return, navigating a steady climb with a few hurdles along the way. The mental resilience required in this sport is often discussed, and Manassero’s recovery from such a deep low in the game, after reaching such heights, is undeniably impressive.
His determination and focus was also palpable during our conversation, set against the stunning backdrop of the La Réserve Golf Links during the Mauritius Open last year. While the breath-taking views might have distracted me, it was evident that Manaserro’s attention was fully dedicated to the task at hand.
“Results ultimately are the ones that give you the confidence, like the cherry on a pie,” he says. “You need results, you need wins, you need something that makes you firmly believe that what you’ve done is good and going in the right direction.
“Those two wins, in Copenhagen and Rome, they were one of the last things I needed to feel that the comeback was working fine. The season ended and now we’re in 2024 with new goals. This thing never stops, there’s always something ahead of us. I happily talk about the past, but I’m focused what’s happening in the future.”
The next nine or so months will see the Italian tee it up under his Category 15 status which is likely to get him in nearly every DP World Tour event. He may just miss out on the Rolex Series tournaments and Major qualification is uncertain, but he’ll be able to compete in all of the others.
Can he push on even more, or will it be a year of battling to make cuts? Honestly, who knows. He’s swinging well with the results to back it up, but it’s the unpredictability of this sport which makes is so gripping. Only Manassero himself will know what he’s capable of over the next 12 months.
“I take it step by step, really,” he said when I asked what his targets are for this year. “I would say 2024 is about staying on tour and having a good year. That’s the goal. I need to measure how far I can go, and what I can do, but at the moment I don’t set goals too high.
“I want to keep improving that’s for sure and feel good on the golf course in more and more difficult circumstances which is definitely one of my biggest goals, and then see what results will come.”
As Manassero embarks on a comeback to the DP World Tour in 2024, ready to navigate a year of promise and uncertainty, the golfing world eagerly awaits the next chapter in this seasoned yet youthful player’s tale. At 30 years old, he remains focused on both past achievements and the challenges ahead. One certainty echoes loud: the Italian’s journey, filled with resilience and hope, is far from reaching its final fairway.
