Matteo Manassero wins Barclays Singapore Open

Italy's Matteo Manassero came through a three-hole playoff against 2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen to win the Barclays Singapore Open at the Sentosa Golf Club on an epic final day

Matteo Manassero
Fergus Bisset
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published

Italy's Matteo Manassero came through a three-hole playoff against 2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen to win the Barclays Singapore Open at the Sentosa Golf Club on an epic final day.

Manassero eagled the third extra hole to capture his third European Tour title. Finishing alone in third place, Rory McIlroy has secured the Race to Dubai title and has followed Luke Donald in topping the money list on both the European and PGA Tours.

After thunderstorms had curtailed play on Thursday and Friday, much of the third round was unfinished when play commenced early on Sunday morning at Sentosa.

The 19-year-old Italian moved into the lead after 54 holes as he compiled a superb 64. With 18-holes to play, his advantage over Oosthuizen was two strokes.

In a roller-coaster final round, Oosthuizen caught Manassero around the turn but then dropped away with consecutive bogeys at the 12th and 13th holes. But he bounced back with a chip-in birdie at the 14th then closed with a birdie at the par-5 18th.

When he secured that final birdie, and Manassero dropped a shot at the 15th, the South African moved into the lead. The Italian stayed steady though and made a birdie of his own at the home hole to tie Oosthuizen on 13-under-par and force a playoff.

The pair returned to the 18th and they couldn't be separated at the first two times of asking, halving in birdies and then in pars. On the third trip down the hole - the fifth time they had played it in the day - both men found the green in two. Oosthuizen putted for eagle first and missed from 30 feet, then Manassero stroked his putt home to take the title.

"It's been an extremely long day," said Manassero. "The adrenaline kept me going and the key was starting really well this morning. Starting with some birdies gave me a lot of adrenaline to go forward. The play-off was just a great honour to play with Louis - it's been amazing really. This year has been a tough year for me going through a few swing changes, but it has been amazing this week."

Rory McIlroy closed with a 65 to take third place on his own while Thomas Bjorn struck back after a poor third round of 74 to secure solo fourth spot.

Paul Casey continued his welcome return to form with another top-10 finish.

Barclays Singapore Open Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore Nov 8-11, purse €4,628,289 par 71

1   Matteo Manassero (Ita) 70 68   64   69   271   €770,226 2   Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 70 69   65   67   271   €513,479 3   Rory McIlroy (NIR)   70   70   69   65   274   €289,287 4   Thomas Bjorn (Den)   66   67   74   68   275   €231,068 T5   Francesco Molinari (Ita)   69   67   72   68   276   €178,847 T5   Adam Scott (Aus)   71   66   69   70   276   €178,847 T7   Anders Hansen (Den) 69   69   71   68   277   €119,231 T7   Chapchai Nirat (Tha)   65   73   70   69   277   €119,231 T7   Chris Wood (Eng)   70   65   70   72   277   €119,231 T10   Paul Casey (Eng)      68   73   67   70   278   €82,838 T10   Adilson Da Silva (Bra)   72   70   66   70   278   €82,838 T10   Jaco Van Zyl (RSA)   68   71   70   69   278   €82,838 T10   Y.E. Yang (Kor)      68   73   68   69   278   €82,838

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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