Italy's 19-year-old Manassero wins Singapore Open in playoff

 SINGAPORE, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Italy's 19-year-old Matteo Manassero holed a 12-foot putt for eagle on the third play-off hole to win the Singapore Open on Sunday, beating South African player Louis Oosthuizen.

It also makes Manassero the first teenager to win three European Tour events. He held the records for the youngest two victories on the European Tour, having winning a masters at the age of 17 and the Malaysian Open two days before his 18th birthday, respectively¹.

Rory Mcllroy, the world number one, finished in the third place at 10 under. He finished the third round at 6 under 65 in the fourth round on Sunday after holing a 35-foot downhill putt for eagle, but it was not enough to make up for the relatively² weak performance in previous rounds. He had been troubled by a cold.

"I played well all week. I just did not convert³ the birdie chances that I gave myself. I missed a lot of putts the last four days and if I had holed a few more maybe it would have been a different story," he said.

Both Manassero and Oosthuizen tied on 13 under 271 in regulation after shooting 69 and 67 respectively.

The 30-year-old South African had a golden opportunity to win the title at the second playoff hole but his four-foot birdie putt lipped out after Manassero had missed a difficult 10-footer.

"Louis had a really near chance. You kind of think I have almost lost it," Manassero said.

The two players had a marathon day as they had to return early to finish the third round before going on to the fourth. Manassero played a total of 36 holes in the day, including 15 to complete the third round, 18 in the final round and three in the playoff.

"It has been an extremely long day. The adrenaline kept me going and fortunately the key was starting very well this morning after coming back on the course. And I started with some birdies in a row (during the third round) which was very good," said Manassero, who picked up a cheque for 1 million U.S. dollars.

The young player said he was taking it easy with his career and worked on his drivers after his first two wins on the European Tour.

"This year has been a little tougher for me as I am going through a few swing changes but it has been amazing this week really. I am glad this came," he said.

Denmark's Thomas Bjorn, the halfway⁴ leader, closed with a 68 to finish fourth, four shots off the pace.

Three-time winner of Singapore Open Adam Scott again closed with a 70 to share the fifth spot with Ryder Cup star Francesco Molinari, who finished with a 68.

1 respectively   

adv.各自地，独自地，个别地，分别地

参考例句：

• They finished first and second respectively.他们分获一二名。
• In this machine which items make up the software and the hardware respectively?在机器中，哪几项分别构成软件和硬件？

2 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

3 convert   

v.（在形式、状态、用途等方面）（使）改变

参考例句：

• I must convert sorrow into strength.我要化悲痛为力量。
• At what rate does the dollar convert into pounds?美元以什么汇率兑换成英镑？

4 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。