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MASTERS TOURNAMENTApril 6, 2010Matteo ManasseroAUGUSTA, GEORGIA THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everybody. I'd like to welcome Matteo Manassero of Verona, Italy, to the 2010 Masters Tournament. Matteo was the youngest winner of the British Amateur Championship in the 124-year history, a feat he accomplished at age 16. He followed that up with a tie for 13th finish at The Open Championship in 2009. He will be the youngest to ever compete in the Masters on Thursday, and we welcome him here this week. Q. What can a 16-year-old appreciate about the history of this golf course? MATTEO MANASSERO: I mean, I always watched and dream about the Masters. I always watched since I was like four years old, started to watch when Faldo and Norman were playing against, so I've watched a few Masters. When I came here firstly, that was a really good feeling. I felt very excited and very honored. Q. You have no interpreter with you; you really trust your English, that's a very bold thing; was an interpreter offered for you here? MATTEO MANASSERO: No, I can speak English. (Laughter). Q. But still your first time sometimes a lot of athletes in American locker rooms bring interpreters just to be safe? MATTEO MANASSERO: Okay. I feel safe. (Laughter). Q. How was your practice round today? MATTEO MANASSERO: Good. I played with Edoardo and Francesco Molinari. We played the back nine, because you can get tired before the start of the tournament. We just played nine holes and I played okay. I'm getting ready for this big stage. The greens are getting faster and the course is getting firmer and I'm getting ready. Q. You'll be drawn with Lee Westwood; what are your feelings on that? MATTEO MANASSERO: Lee Westwood and Mike Weir, we have to say both. (Laughter) One is a Masters Champion is one is Race to Dubai Champion. It will be really exciting and a great experience. Q. Have you ever spoken to either of them before? MATTEO MANASSERO: Never spoke with Mike Weir but I spoke with Lee Westwood. Actually, we were speaking in the locker room. We were watching the Arsenal game. I first met Lee in Dubai at the ceremony. Q. Did he say he would take care of you if necessary? MATTEO MANASSERO: He said, "Hi, partner." Q. How do you feel your experience last year at Turnberry, how will that help you cope with the pressures at Augusta? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, it will definitely help me for all my pro life. It was an amazing experience with all of the crowd. I started there to have a lot of crowd and more attention, so that is helping me, and it will help me, of course, here. Q. Do you expect to feel nervous on Thursday morning? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yes, I will be nervous, definitely. I hope not too much but I will be nervous. Q. And do you have any secret to control your nerves? MATTEO MANASSERO: My caddie helps me and no, actually I don't have any secret. I just play -- usually I start when I work the first tee I'm nervous, then I hit the first shot and then I become more calm, start to be more calm. Q. After you're done with this week, will you go back to high school? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yes. Q. What's your toughest class right now? MATTEO MANASSERO: The difficult is to keep both quite good. So yeah, I'm going to -- yeah, after this, I'm back to school, starting, and training golf. Q. Are your buddies going to watch on TV? MATTEO MANASSERO: Maybe they will, my friends, yeah. Q. You said you'll be nervous Thursday. Will you be anymore nervous Thursday than you were at Turnberry? MATTEO MANASSERO: I can answer you better Thursday (laughter) but I will be nervous enough Thursday. Q. I was going to ask, at what age can you leave school in Italy, and will you carry on, or what is your position? MATTEO MANASSERO: We normally finish school at 19 doing normally classes, we finish at 19. So I will finish at 19, too. But from May -- I will finish this year normally, and then I'm going to have some -- take other ways to finish it, like other type of schools, not the normal classes. Q. On the Internet? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, something like that. We haven't planned it yet, but it will be something like that, because I mean, I want to finish the school. Q. Is there any particular Italian golfer you have looked up to or set as your example? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, Seve Ballesteros -- you mean idol? Like idols? Q. Italian? MATTEO MANASSERO: Italian, sorry. Of course, Rocca, of course him, he's our best player, and I used to watch him on television and imitate what he was doing. Now the two Molinari's are doing pretty well. They are helping me. Yeah, two great guys. Q. They are not much older than you are, are they? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, but they have definitely more experience than me. So that's why they are helping me. Q. As someone who has a teenager at home and knows all of the silly things she can do, how typical of a 16-year-old are you? How do you spend an afternoon that's not on the golf course? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, I'm not a typical 16 years old (laughter) because -- Q. Because you're here? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, also. But I spend the afternoons with friends sometimes when I'm off the training. When I have time free, I can spend it with my friends. Q. Are you a big video game, texter, music? MATTEO MANASSERO: Music, I do pretty much with my phone, my mobile phone but not many video games. Q. What sort of music? MATTEO MANASSERO: What sort of music? Kind of old music, but -- Q. Define older music? MATTEO MANASSERO: All the best artists. Q. Such as? MATTEO MANASSERO: There are many, I don't know. I listen to different music in different periods. One period I can listen pop, one period I can listen rock, I can listen to other types of music. So I have different that I like. Q. What kind of preparation were you able to have for the Masters and what advice has been given to you? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, in Italy, we had a cold winter, so I haven't had good preparation. But I came here more than a week before to play the Georgia Cup, and that was a great preparation, because I've played in Georgia Golf Club, that is a great course, slopey, target course with very fast greens. So that was a really good preparation. Me and my coach, we had a great time there. And so it was a great practice for the Masters, yeah. Q. Is there any particular advice that people have given you about playing Augusta? MATTEO MANASSERO: Particular advice is -- all the advices are on where to put the ball with the second shot. Those are the advices that also Tom Watson give me yesterday, like with some pin positions, where to put the ball. Q. Who is staying with you here? Your parents or your mom or dad? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, my parents, mom and dad, friends, and some other guy came with me, my coach, that is supposed to caddie for me. Q. Do you have a curfew? Do you have to be home at a certain time every night? Do your parents monitor where you go and that sort of thing? MATTEO MANASSERO: No. I go just a few times out at night, so they don't have to do that. (Laughter) I'm a safe guy. Q. Who is your coach? MATTEO MANASSERO: Alberto Binaghi, he used to be a player. Q. You're playing The Italian Open? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yes. Q. That's when you'll make your professional debut? How many events will you then hope to play? Obviously you hope to get your card? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yes, what I will try to do is seven invitations on The European Tour to try to reach my card. And that's my plan. If not, I will try, also, some events on The Challenge Tour if I have the possibility, and if not, Q-School, and then next year, the same. So if I reach my card, I will play like tour players. If not, I will play the Challenge, Q-School and then the next year like this. Q. But whatever happens, you will finish your schoolwork? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yes. Q. So you will be a professional touring golfer and you'll be studying, as well? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yes, as I said, I won't be a normal frequentation, but it will be something online, Internet or computerized. Q. You'll have a tutor? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, I will possibly have a tutor. Q. When you learned you were the youngest to ever play in the Masters, where were you and how did you react? MATTEO MANASSERO: I was maybe here, because when I came here, many come to me and I say I'm very honored. It was here, because I never looked at those records. I'm very honored at this, of course. Q. You're very modest; how high do you think you can finish this week? MATTEO MANASSERO: I wish as high as I can. But I have no goals, no goals here. I just want to enjoy this beautiful experience, this beautiful place, and take as much experience as I can. Q. Are you thinking of making the cut, for example? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, of course. It's my possibility, but yeah. Q. Have you met Tiger Woods? MATTEO MANASSERO: I saw him. No, I didn't meet him, actually. Q. Has it always been one of your goals? Is he one of your guys you follow? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, of course, best player in the world, how can you not follow him. Q. How did you take up golf? How long have you been playing, and what did you like about it? MATTEO MANASSERO: I started at 3 years old. My parents brought me to a small driving range in the city, in my hometown, Verona. So from there, actually I never stopped. I always forced my parents to bring me to the golf course, so that's my strange life, golf. (Laughter). Q. Are you a keen football fan? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah. Soccer, you mean? AC Milan, big supporter. Q. I was curious about your practice round with Tom Watson yesterday. How did you arrange that? Was that arranged back in Dubai? Tell us about that. MATTEO MANASSERO: We arranged it back in Dubai when we met together after the British Open. We met in Dubai, and he asked me if we possibly could do the practice round Monday, and I said, of course, that would be amazing for me. I discovered here that Rory McIlroy was playing with us, too. And that's how we planned. Q. All 18 holes yesterday? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, 18 holes. Nine with Rory and time, and 18 with Tom, full round with Tom. He gave me great advices. Obviously he knows the course better than any other. He played many times here. Q. What advice? What sticks out? MATTEO MANASSERO: The advices were like where to put and where not to go, the wrong zones and the good zones, that were a little bit of advices. Q. You said before that Seve Ballesteros was your idol. By the time you were born, his career was going down. Have you seen old film of him? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, I've seen many film about Seve. I had the chance to meet him when I was four. So that was great for me. Q. And you can remember that? MATTEO MANASSERO: I can remember that, yeah. Q. Did you hit shots for him? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yes, we chipped together. He was chipping. We chipped together. It was a funny moment. Q. You beat him? MATTEO MANASSERO: I holed a chip. (Laughter) That's why it was fun. Q. Where was this? MATTEO MANASSERO: It was The Italian Open, my home club, 1997. I was four, or I was three maybe. Three or four -- I was four. Q. Strange question but have you ever been mistaken for a caddie or a non-participant? You obviously look your age? MATTEO MANASSERO: If I make mistakes, you mean? Q. Has a person ever confused you with a caddie, coming into a course? MATTEO MANASSERO: No. For the moment, no. For the moment, I'm not confused about -- for the moment, no. Q. What was your handicap before you turned pro? MATTEO MANASSERO: I'm not pro. Now it's plus-five, something like that. Q. Obviously as a plus-five, you're an all-around terrific player, but how would you describe your strength as a player and what are you trying to improve? MATTEO MANASSERO: My strength has always been regularity, like keep the ball in play always. I'm not a long hitter, so I put the ball fairway, green, that's my game and my strength. And long irons have been one of my best part of the game, and sometimes I have to improve my putter, gave me little -- make me a little mad sometimes. Q. Do you still play in your club competitions at home? MATTEO MANASSERO: I'm playing some Italian events, some events in Italy, championships in Italy, but not anymore in my club, Garda Golf, just practicing there. Q. When did you first play Augusta, and how many times have you played the course now? MATTEO MANASSERO: I've been here firstly November, because a member hosted me here and we had four rounds at the time. The course was a little bit different but not that much. It was a little bit softer, so I played four rounds at that time. I'm like seven rounds now, seven and a half now. Q. All together? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, I've played like seven rounds. Q. You said before you had spent one night in the Crow's Nest; have you done that? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yes, yesterday after the Amateur dinner. All of the Amateurs were there, full, at the Crow's Nest. Q. Good fun? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, we had good fun. We were watching the basketball final. Q. How many of you were in the Crow's Nest this year? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yesterday we were five. It was full. We are actually six amateurs this year, but one was not there because there was no room. Q. When your friends back home ask you to describe what your experience has been like so far, what's the first thing that you tell them? MATTEO MANASSERO: If I play good or bad. That's the first thing I say. But you know, I don't used to speak a lot about what I've done because I don't like it. I just say a few things. I don't want to speak about all of the trip, just a few things. Q. What about the course or the tournament or just the experience in general, what are you telling them? MATTEO MANASSERO: You mean, in general? Q. Yeah, just what this whole experience has been like for you, what are you telling your friends when they ask you? MATTEO MANASSERO: Oh, so you mean about the Masters? I would tell them that it's -- I won't have words to tell how big and how exciting. It is the Masters. It's just a special place, a special tournament, a dream; so that's what I may be will say to them. Q. You are only spending that one night in the Crow's Nest, you're back with your parents now? MATTEO MANASSERO: Yeah, we have a house. So I will stay there. I just wanted to make the experience of the Crow's Nest for amateurs. Q. Who was not there last night? MATTEO MANASSERO: There was not Nathan Smith. He will spend the night in the Crow's Nest tonight. Q. Are you doing any schoolwork with you to do tonight? MATTEO MANASSERO: No. I have no goals, not seen scores that I want to do. Q. Sorry, do you have any school, homework from school? MATTEO MANASSERO: Oh, homework, sorry. No. I wanted just to think about the Masters. (Laughter) I'll just think about that when I come back. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, and we wish you all the best. End of FastScripts |
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