{"id":320554,"date":"2011-03-18T18:32:06","date_gmt":"2011-03-18T18:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/03\/18\/tour-report-manassero-could-set-mark-pgatour-com\/"},"modified":"2011-03-18T18:32:06","modified_gmt":"2011-03-18T18:32:06","slug":"tour-report-manassero-could-set-mark-pgatour-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/18\/tour-report-manassero-could-set-mark-pgatour-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour Report: Manassero could set mark (PGATOUR.com)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Matteo Manassero has only played three tournaments in the United States. So the Italian teenager is just beginning to develop a fan base here.<\/p>\n

The way Manassero is playing at the Transitions Championship, though, it won\u2019t be long before even the casual golf fan knows who he is. The 17-year-old pro fired his second straight 68 at the Copperhead Course on Friday to move with three strokes of the lead.<\/p>\n

“Obviously I\u2019m not far away,” Manassero said. “My focus is try to hit better, maybe just more consistent golf shots and see if the putts will work like this all the week. So it\u2019s definitely going to be a good week anyway.”<\/p>\n

Manassero became the youngest winner on the European Tour last year when he captured the title at the Casetello Masters at the age of 17 years, 188 days. Manassero, who turns 18 on April 19, could earn that distinction on the PGA TOUR, as well, if he wins the Transitions Championship.<\/p>\n

Here are the youngest winners on the PGA TOUR:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Name<\/td>\nAge<\/td>\nTournament<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Johnny McDermott<\/td>\n19 years, 10 months, 14 days<\/td>\n1911 U.S. Open<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gene Sarazen<\/td>\n20 years, 5 days<\/td>\n1922 South Open<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Charles Evans, Jr. (amateur)<\/td>\n20 years, 1 month, 15 days<\/td>\n1910 Western Open<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Francis Ouimet (amateur)<\/td>\n20 years, 4 months, 12 days<\/td>\n1913 U.S. Open<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gene Sarazen<\/td>\n20 year, 4 months, 18 days<\/td>\n1922 U.S. Open<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n\n

Rose back to putting by feel<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n

Rose<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Justin Rose won twice in three tries on the PGA TOUR in early summer 2010 \u2014 but the putter he used last year, the TaylorMade Ghost, is out of his bag.<\/p>\n

Rose felt something needed to change. The Brit felt he\u2019d been hitting the ball better that ever \u2014 that is why he added the Transitions Championship to his schedule \u2014 but he\u2019s been missing key chances on the greens. He placed an older Scotty Cameron model in his bag this week at Copperhead, and it\u2019s paid off.<\/p>\n

After the round, Rose tweeted: “That was fun. Weather was about as perfect as I\u2019ve ever played in. Ball striking was lovely again and holed couple putts over 10\u2032!”<\/p>\n

Rose needed only 27 putts on the large Copperhead greens on Friday. He ended up with a 65 that vaulted him into a tie for third, and he gave full credit to the putter change, saying he wanted to go back to something with a little more feel.<\/p>\n

The new putter is something I\u2019ve had in my garage for a few years,” Rose said. “I used it in the \u201908 Masters. I putted nicely at the time. And it\u2019s just a different look. I think that\u2019s what I needed. I had the Ghost, which had a lot of lines on it and I just thought I was getting a little bit too technical.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m trying to be more instinctive. I feel like I\u2019m threatening the hole from 20, 25 feet more than I have been all year. If I can dial it all in, speed and line, which I\u2019ve been narrowly missing this week, hopefully on the weekend I\u2019ll see some putts going in.”<\/p>\n

Indeed, a check of the putting stats backs up what Rose was suspecting. He was 40th on TOUR in putting average last year, but has slipped to 89th this year (in six starts). His 29.30 putts per round ranked 103rd, a noticeable spike from the 28.64 he used in 2010.<\/p>\n

“Often when you hit a lot of greens, you don\u2019t hit as many putts as you feel like you could,” Rose said. “I feel like I\u2019m holing out quite well, and really that\u2019s how you tell if your stroke is good or not or if you\u2019re lining up the blade well.”<\/p>\n

JUSTIN ROSE<\/strong>: Scorecard<\/a> | Shot Tracker<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Copperhead: Downright soft!<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

Is this the same course that Sean O\u2019Hair won with a 4-under total over four rounds in 2008? Due to no wind and perfect weather conditions, players are finding the Copperhead Course downright scoreable, if that\u2019s a word (probably not).<\/p>\n

Midway through the second round, the field is averaging 70.566 on the par-71 layout. The field averaged 70.819 in Round 1, and the scores were actually dropping in the afternoon.<\/p>\n

The tournament record of 18-under 266, set by Vijay Singh during his epochal 2004 season, still appears to be safe \u2026 unless Round 1 leader Paul Casey goes ultra-low again. Given the perfect conditions, it\u2019s a real possibility.<\/p>\n\n

Willis avoids repeat of last year<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

Garrett Willis is the player who shot 65 in the opening round of the Transitions Championship last year \u2014 and wasn\u2019t even around to play on Sunday after missing the 54-hole cut.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/p>\n

Willis<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

He shot 66 on Thursday \u2026 and promptly bogeyed his first hole Friday even though it\u2019s an easy 552-yard par-5.<\/p>\n

“Same as last year. Here we go again,” Garrett said. “All I had to do was hit a 7\u2011iron up the middle of the fairway, hit a wedge on the green to give myself \u2011\u2011 to make a putt. But no; I wanted to hit 3\u2011wood up in the neck, and if I hit it good to where I can have an easy birdie, and I just missed it a little bit. Goes under the tree, dumped under the bunker and made bogey.”<\/p>\n

Turns out, it was the last mistake he\u2019d made. He pitched in for eagle on the par-5 fifth and made three more birdies coming in, polishing off a 67 that had him off work in time to see No. 9 seed Tennessee take on No. 8 Michigan in the NCAA West Regional in Charlotte (Willis played collegiately at East Tennessee State).<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ll get to go home, hang out with the family, hang out with infant son Gage,” Willis said. “Tennessee is playing basketball here shortly.”<\/p>\n

“Heading straight home. No practice, no nothing. Golf\u2019s behind me until tomorrow morning.”<\/p>\n

Willis\u2019 133 total is good for the current lead, although Paul Casey, who shot 64 on Thursday, has just teed off.<\/p>\n

GARRETT WILLIS<\/strong>: Scorecard<\/a> | Shot Tracker<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Morning Movers: Round 2<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

Amanda Balionis delivers exclusive video from the 2011 Transitions Championship and sets the stage for the second round from the Innisbrook Copperhead Course:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n

Still no bogeys for Sergio<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

On a course that prides itself on punishing players\u2019 mistakes \u2014 even on a windless day \u2014 Sergio Garcia hasn\u2019t slipped up much in his 2011 U.S. debut this week. The 31-year-old (wait, what?) has seven birdies and 25 pars through 32 holes and is knocking on the door of the 36-hole lead in the Transitions Championship.<\/p>\n

All this as the three-year anniversary of his 2008 THE PLAYERS win approaches. All of this on a vastly different located just 235 miles from TPC Sawgrass.<\/p>\n

Can Garcia keep it up? One thing\u2019s for sure: He will have a late tee time on Saturday.<\/p>\n

SERGIO GARCIA<\/strong>: Scorecard<\/a> | Shot Tracker<\/a><\/p>\n\n

Meet (and tweet) Scott Stallings<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

Scott Stallings\u2019 rookie year on TOUR hasn\u2019t gone well. The 25-year-old cruised through q-school after finishing 53rd on the Nationwide Tour money list last year, but he\u2019s made only one cut so far in six tries.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/p>\n

Stallings<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Tennessee Tech grad hasn\u2019t even been in the United States for several weeks. He played in the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico and the Puerto Rico Open, and he also teed it up in the Nationwide Tour\u2019s Pacific Rubiales Bogota Open. So when the Transitions Championship called and offered him a sponsor\u2019s exemption, he jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also made the most of it. Stallings isn\u2019t a name that rings a bell among casual golf fans, but he\u2019s a prolific Twitterer<\/a> who uses his business degree to write a blog on bnet.com (find it here<\/a>). His blog has some great insight to what it\u2019s really like to be a typical player on the PGA TOUR \u2014 by typical, one that has to worry about reshuffles, the logistics of travel and the constant worry of having a job.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also among the leaders of the Transitions Championship as the second round continues at Copperhead. Stallings, who shot 66 on Thursday despite finishing in the dark, is 2 under on Friday and has a lock on playing on the weekend for the second time this year.<\/p>\n

Stallings, who earlier this week Tweeted his excitement about playing a practice round with veterans Kenny Perry and Shaun Micheel, is already one of the longest hitters on TOUR. Through six events, he\u2019s seventh in distance at 302 yards a pop, ahead of noted bombers Robert Garrigus, John Daly and Gary Woodland.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

See the article here:
\nTour Report: Manassero could set mark (PGATOUR.com)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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