Former teen prodigy keen to forget year with no top-10s

Italy’s Matteo Manassero is ready to face the consequences of a poor season as he tries to save his European Tour card in the Andalucia Valderrama Masters.

Manassero was the youngest winner in European Tour history when he claimed the Castello Masters in 2010 aged 17 years and 188 days and added further titles in each of the next three seasons.

The last of those came in the BMW PGA Championship in 2013 and helped Manassero reach a careerhigh of 25th in the world, but the five-year exemption for that victory runs out on Sunday, after which only the top 110 players on the Race to Dubai will earn full playing privileges for next season.

Manassero is ranked 118th after failing to record a single top-10 finish in 25 events this season, although a tie for 22nd in last week’s British Masters offers grounds for optimism.

“I need a good week but really I try not to change the idea of going out and playing as good as I can,” said Manassero, who was 16 when he was the youngest winner of the Amateur Championship in 2009 and finished 13th in the Open at Turnberry a month later.

“I’m not going to play for 28th or 31st, I’m going to try and play as good as I can and whatever comes we’ll take the consequences.

“Obviously I didn’t have such a great season but I’m still here with a chance. That’s thanks to the British Masters and hopefully I can play well and forget a little bit 2018. I’m happy anyway and I’ll try to have a good week, that’s all.”

Defending champion Sergio Garcia is a strong favourite to win the tournament for the third time on his first start since becoming the top points scorer in Ryder Cup history in Europe’s victory at Le Golf National.

“It was great to beat the record,” said Garcia, who won three of his four matches in Paris to surpass Nick Faldo with 25-and-ahalf points from nine appearances in the contest.

“Not only because I’m on top of some amazing players – some of my idols – but because it means that I was able to help the European team for a long time and that’s what makes me proud.”

Garcia has fallen outside the world’s top 30 for the first time since October 2011, although coincidentally he then won the Andalucia Masters for the first time before it dropped off the schedule for five years.