Matteo Manassero marked his return to the DP World Tour winner’s circle with a dramatic Jonsson Workwear Open victory at Glendower Golf Club Matteo Manassero marked his return to the DP World Tour winner’s circle with a dramatic Jonsson Workwear Open victory at Glendower Golf Club. Photo: Tyrone Winfield/Sunshine Tour
Matteo Manassero marked his return to the DP World Tour winner’s circle in a dramatic victory befitting of the journey he has been on over the past 11 years when he won the Jonsson Workwear Open in the dark at Glendower Golf Club on Sunday.
With a late weather delay putting the finish of the Sunshine Tour co-sanctioned tournament in doubt, play resumed at 18:00 and Manassero completed a finish of four straight birdies for a 66 and a three-stroke victory on 26 under par.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s wonderful to experience these emotions again on a golf course,” said Manassero, whose journey from golf prodigy to the wilderness of the game and then back again is one of the great fairytales in the game.
“It’s incredible. It’s really difficult to put into words. I’m definitely proud of what I’ve been through. But I also don’t want to look at the past and the tougher times. I want to enjoy the moment. To finish like I did was incredible. I’ve been through a lot of emotions and it seems like it was written somewhere that after the restart I would finish with two more birdies.
“When the final putt went in you kind of have a drop in emotions that build up over the past few days. It feels so good to relieve those moments. That’s what we practice for,” he said as he delivered his winning speech in the dark, but with a smile that truly lit up the 18th green.
South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence (63), Shaun Norris (68) and England’s Jordan Smith (68) shared second place on 23 under par.
For Nick Jonsson, Chairman and CEO of Jonsson Workwear, this was indeed a fairytale victory worthy of their investment in the game.
“We’ve loved our association with golf and it’s a huge honour to partner with the Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour. Anything we are involved with has to echo our own values as a company, and our involvement with golf has been good for us,” he said.
SCORES:
262 - Matteo Manassero 68 61 67 66
265 - Thriston Lawrence 65 70 67 63, Shaun Norris 66 66 65 68, Jordan Smith 66 66 65 68
266 - Angel Hidalgo 67 64 67 68
267 - Ivan Cantero 64 67 68 68, Oliver Bekker 65 65 68 69
268 - Connor Syme 68 67 66 67
269 - Daniel van Tonder 68 68 69 64, Tom McKibbin 67 64 69 69
270 - Ryan Van Velzen 68 70 69 63, Freddy Schott 71 64 70 65, Louis de Jager 65 69 70 66, Andrea Pavan 68 67 67 68
271 - Sam Bairstow 67 67 71 66, Matthew Baldwin 70 69 66 66
272 - Benjamin Follett-Smith 68 66 71 67, Oliver Wilson 69 68 68 67, Jason Scrivener 68 66 70 68, Thomas Aiken 69 67 67 69, Guxin Chen 71 64 66 71, Jacques Kruyswijk 66 68 66 72
273 - Daniel Brown 70 70 69 64, Ugo Coussaud 68 65 72 68, Ewen Ferguson 70 65 69 69, JC Ritchie 69 68 67 69, Andy Sullivan 70 67 67 69, Clement Sordet 69 68 66 70
Michael Vlismas Media
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