Manassero accepts invite to play in Scottish Challenge

MATTEO Manassero, the Italian teenager who earned an army of admirers when he won the Silver Medal in last year's Open Championship at Turnberry, is returning to Scotland next week.

Now in the professional ranks, he's accepted an invitation to play in the Scottish Hydro Challenge at Macdonald Spey Valley in Aviemore.

"I am very grateful to have been invited to the Scottish Hydro Challenge and I am looking forward to making my first appearance on the Challenge Tour," said Manassero. "Obviously I have great memories of playing in Scotland from Turnberry last year and I am looking forward to getting back there." This time last year few people had even heard of Manassero but that soon changed when, at the age of 16, he became the youngest winner of the Amateur Championship at Formby.

That performance earned the youngster from Verona a place at Turnberry, where, after playing with Tom Watson in the opening two rounds, he finished as the leading amateur in a tie for 13th. Earlier this year Manassero showed his undoubted class yet again when become the youngest player to make the cut in The Masters, soon after which he made an anticipated switch to the professional ranks.

He made his debut in the BMW Italian Open in Turin, where he played with Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie in the opening two rounds before finishing in a tie for 29th, and now Manassero is looking forward to being back in Scotland. "I know it will be a different experience on the Challenge Tour, but I know that the standard is extremely high and I will have to be at the top of my game to contend at Spey Valley," he added.

Manassero will head to Aviemore after trying to secure a place at this year's Open in the International Final Qualifying tournament at Sunningdale on Monday. His appearance at Spey Valley is a huge boost for the Scottish Hydro Challenge, a tournament that will see Fifer Jamie McLeary defended the title he won at the same venue last year. On that occasion, McLeary held off another Italian, Edoardo Molinari, who joined forces with his brother, Francesco, to win the World Cup a few months later and is now alongside his sibling in the top 50 in the world.

Former Open champion Paul Lawrie, a long-standing supporter of the Scottish Hydro Challenge, will make an appearance in the Pro-Am next Wednesday before attending the dinner and leading the prize presentation.

The tournament itself runs from Thursday to Sunday and backing up McLeary in a strong-looking Scottish contingent will be the likes of Lloyd Saltman, another former Silver Medal winner in The Open, Tartan Tour No 1 Craig Lee, Eisenhower Trophy team-mates Gavin Dear and Callum Macaulay as well as former Cannes Open winner Raymond Russell.