10 Apr 2010

Italian schoolboy makes Masters cut

2:22 pm on 10 April 2010

Italian schoolboy Matteo Manassero has produced more record-breaking exploits at the Masters on Saturday, becoming the youngest player in the history of the event to make the halfway cut.

Ten days shy of his 17th birthday, the amateur from Verona added a battling second-round score of 76 to erase from the record books 18-year-old Bob Cole, who played all four rounds in 1967.

Manassero, playing with Lee Westwood and former Masters winner Mike Weir, ducked under par with a 71 on Thursday and his three over total of 147 was right on the cut.

He was the youngest-ever winner of the British Amateur Open last year and that qualified him for a crack at this year's Masters, where he was the youngest player ever to compete in the tournament.

He's the first amateur since 2005 to play in the final two rounds, and is already assured of finishing top amateur this year as he is the only one to make the cut.