CBSSports.com wire reports
MARBELLA, Spain — Italian teenager Matteo Manassero made a brilliant start at the Andalucia Open to his tall task of qualifying for the Masters by tying the course record for a three-shot lead on Thursday.
Manassero carded an 8-under 64 on the Aloha course in Marbella, matching Lee Westwood’s second-round score en route to victory in 2007.
Three strokes behind were five players; Niclas Fasth of Sweden, Eduardo de la Riva of Spain, Henni Otto of South Africa and the England pair of Anthony Wall and European Tour newcomer Lloyd Kennedy.
The 18-year-old Manassero was 63rd in the world rankings and needing to be inside the top 50 by the end of the month to ensure a return to next month’s Masters, where he made his debut in 2010 as the British Amateur champion.
To close the gap, he needs to win this week and finish no worse than runner-up in next week’s Hassan II Trophy in Morocco.
“Of course, Augusta is on my mind as I would love to be going back to compete in the Masters,” he said. “But I will probably need to win either this week or next week in Morocco to have the chance of getting myself back into the top-50 in the world.”
The odds are long, but at least he made a great start.
In making just 24 putts, he birdied his closing two holes for a total of nine birdies and just one bogey for his lowest round to par after also recording an 8-under 64 during the 2010 Hong Kong Open.
“It was a very good round and I played very solid as I didn’t miss much, and a round where I made about 90 percent of my birdie chances and that was the key,” he said.
“I am really happy as everything went very well with just one bogey at my 16th.
“I liked this course the first time I saw it as it suits my game, as strategy is very important. I only used the driver four times.”
Former Masters champion Mike Weir birdied two of his closing four holes for a 68 in his first event since taking out European Tour membership. He was among six players at 4 under.
Tournament host Miguel Angel Jimenez, who played alongside Manassero, carded 69.
“Compared to Matteo’s round my score looks very poor,” Jimenez said. “I played rubbish on the front nine with a couple of three-putts but it was better on the back nine.”
Thorhjorn Olesen of Denmark recorded his first hole-in-one on the tour on the par-three fourth hole.
