Italy's Matteo Manassero became the youngest ever winner of the BMW PGA Championship as he claimed his fourth European Tour title at the age of 20 on the fourth hole of a sudden-death play-off at the magical Wentworth club.
It what was a testing week due to the ever changing weather conditions, the Italian (DryJoys Tour and StaSof) held strong scoring 4, 5, 4, and 4 in the play-off to take the title.
Overnight leader Alejandro Cañizares (Contour and SciFlex) missed from 18 feet on the last for an eagle to join the play-off and Lee Westwood (FJ ICON and StaSof) held a two shot lead after birdies on the second, third and fourth, but the Worksop born professional couldn’t keep his momentum playing the back nine and he finished equal ninth.
Manassero who looked very comfortable on the range at the start of the week shot rounds of 69, 71, 69 and 69 – a total of 10 under par and at the age 20 years and 37 days, beats the previous record of Bernard Gallacher, who was 20 years and 97 days when he won in 1969.
"I feel unbelievable, really emotional," The Italian announced after his dramatic win.
"It's been an amazing week. I have always felt something really special about this place and this tournament. Everything has come together this week. I managed to play well and managed to stay in contention after a tough day on Friday and pulled it off with this play-off."
"I am the happiest man in the world right now."
Shoe Count:FJ - 55%Nearest Comp. - 21%
D.A. Points came back from a nearly three hour rain delay to win the Shell Houston Open by one stroke over Henrik Stenson and Billy Horschel.
Beginning the day one back, Points made six birdies in the first 14 holes, racing to a one stroke lead before play ceased. With a two year PGA Tour exemption and a Masters invitation on the line, D.A. made clutch pars on the final four holes including up and downs on the final two to post the clubhouse lead at 16 under. No one could catch the total, which gave D.A. his second PGA tour victory.
Points trusted his XPS-1 golf shoes and FJ Sciflex glove en route to his win, "The XPS-1 gives me the comfort and stability I need to play my best golf." Continuing, "The SciFlex fits my hand and is breathable for the hot conditions we always play in."
Seven different FJ styles graced the top 25 of the Shell Houston Open. D.A. opted for max stability of the XPS-1, second place finisher Billy Horschel went for fashion forward performance in FJ Icon MyJoys. Other players in the top 25, Ben Crane in Contour, Oothuizen in DryJoys Tour, Bill Haas in FJ Sport, Westwood in FJ Icon, and Wheatcroft in the M:Project. FJ truly has a shoe for every golfer and every swing.
Shell Houston Open Shoe Count
FJ - 64%
Nearest competitor - 18%
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Lee Westwood (Synr-G and SciFlex) celebrated his birthday by reclaiming the top spot on the Official World Golf Rankings with a win at the Indonesian Masters (Asian Tour). Lee Westwood played stellar golf all week at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club and began his final round with a 5 shot lead. Westwood was steady on the outward nine, shooting even par. On the 11th, Westwood faced a tricky 15 footer for birdie and nailed it. Now with some momentum, Lee birdied two more holes to finish the tourney at 19-under par 3 shots clear of second place. When asked about becoming world number one again, Westwood downplayed the feat, "It was about coming here this week and trying to win the Indonesian Masters and I've done that."
On the European Tour, big hitting Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts (FJ ICON) won the Volvo China Open at a staggering mark of 24-under par. This is Nicolas' first European Tour victory coming 10 years after first earning his European Tour card at the age of 18. Colsaerts later said of his victory, "I’m enjoying every second of it...I’m dizzy - my head is going all over the place. I’ve been waiting for this for a very long time and I think I did it in the best of manners so I’m really delighted."
Asian Tour
European Tour