体坛英语新闻：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, respectively.

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 relatively weak performance in previous rounds. He had been troubled by a cold.

"I played well all week. I just did not convert 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 halfway 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.