"To find a pro whose thought process can flit between par and Pythagoras is unusual but when you’re still at school..."

Martin Johnson sits down with Matteo Manassero and talks to the young Italian about turning pro while still learning on the job.

Manassero enjoyed The Open at Turnberry, where Watson was highly complimentary (“we talked a lot, he’s a very nice man”). The Italian is a big fan of links golf. “I love it. So much fun to play and at the same time, with the bounces you can get, it teaches you patience.” There’s that word again — though I wondered whether his first pro tournament, the Italian Open, was an even better lesson in the art of patience, given that his partner Colin Montgomerie was hacking his way to an ugly 76.

“Well, maybe I didn’t learn too much patience,” he smiled, “but I learnt some other things from Colin.”

“Such as how to savage a marshal?” I ventured.

Manassero laughed. “No, no. Not like that. Nothing like that. Colin was great.”
The boy can not only play golf, he’s already learning how to avoid dropped shots in the interview room.